Alcohol exposure during pregnancy causes non-compaction cardiomyopathy in offspring mice / 第三军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the relationship of alcohol exposure during pregnancy and non-compaction cardiomyopathy (NCC) in offspring mice.Methods Pregnant mice of ED3.5-ED18.5 were given 56％ alcohol by gavage at a dose of 5 mL/kg.The ED19.5 mice were sacrificed,and the heart of the fetal mice was harvested.Transmission electron microscopy (filaments,mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum) and HE staining were used to verify the changes of structure and ultrastructure of the obtained myocardial tissues.Echocardiography was used to evaluate the cardiac function and ventricular myometrium of the offspring mice after growing up.Results Alcohol exposure during pregnancy caused the disorganized and dissolved myofilaments in the fetal mice.Some offspring mice (31.25％,5/16) had NCC.The ratio of non-compacted myocardium to compact myocardium at the end of systole (N/C) was 2.49 ± 0.6 in the offspring mice of the alcohol exposure group,significantly higher than that in the control offspring mice (0.62 ± 0.23,t =10.397,P =0.000).The volume of heart was decreased in the offspring mice of the alcohol exposure group while the left ventricule was enlarged.Echocardiography showed cardiac dysfunction and thickened ventricular septal/left ventricular posterior walls in the grown-up mice of the exposure group.Conclusion Large dose of alcohol exposure during pregnancy cause trabeculations and non-compaction in ventricular myocardium,and it might be one of causers for NCC in the offspring.