O alcoolismo na gravidez e os efeitos na prole / The alcoholism in pregnancy

Os efeitos do consumo de álcool etílico durante a gravidez são discutidos nesta atualização, principalmente em relação aos aspectos clínicos, diagnósticos e experimentais da Síndrome Alcoólica Fetal (SAF), decorrente da teratogenia do etanol. São enfocados ainda os dados históricos, epidemiológicos, dos fatores predisponentes e fisiopatológicos da SAF, os relacionados com os resultados da pesquisa experimental, assim como as diferentes tentativas de prevenção e terapêuticas.

Effects of ethanol on offspring of C57BL/6J mice alcoholized during gestation

The effects of chronic alcohol consumption during pregnancy were analysed in the gestation and offspring of alcoholized mice. Female C57BL/6J mice were placed overnight with stud males and the presence of a sperm plug in the next morning indicated the onset of gestation. Pregnant mice were distributed in two weight-matched groups. In the alcoholized group, the mice received a high protein liquid diet ad libitum containing 27.5 percent of ethanol-derived calories (5.28 percent v/v) from gestation day 5 to 19. The control group received the same volume of diet containing isocaloric amounts of maltose-dextrin substituted for ethanol. After postnatal day zero, the dams received food pellets and tap water ad libitum. On postnatal day 6 the pups were counted and weighed at variable intervals up to the 60th day of life. The majority of the pregnant dams that have received ethanol completed the gestational period, and the chronic consumption of alcohol did not interfere with the number of dams that gave birth. The alcoholized and control dams gained an equivalent weight and consumed an equivalent volume of diet throughout the gestation. The number of pups from alcohol diet dams was 46,26 percent smaller compared with the control group. There were less male than female pups in the offspring of alcoholized mice. Teratogeny like gastroschisis and limb malformation were present in the offspring of alcoholized dams. The body weight of the offspring of alcoholized mice increased from the 18th to the 36th postnatal day