Parental binge alcohol abuse alters F1 generation hypothalamic gene expression in the absence of direct fetal alcohol exposure.

Adolescent binge alcohol exposure has long-lasting effects on the expression of hypothalamic genes that regulate the stress response, even in the absence of subsequent adult alcohol exposure. This suggests that alcohol can induce permanent gene expression changes, potentially through epigenetic modifications to specific genes. Epigenetic modifications can be transmitted to future generations therefore, and in these studies we investigated the effects of adolescent binge alcohol exposure on hypothalamic gene expression patterns in the F1 generation offspring. It has been well documented that maternal alcohol exposure during fetal development can have devastating neurological consequences. However, less is known about the consequences of maternal and/or paternal alcohol exposure outside of the gestational time frame. Here, we exposed adolescent male and female rats to a repeated binge EtOH exposure paradigm and then mated them in adulthood. Hypothalamic samples were taken from the offspring of these animals at postnatal day (PND) 7 and subjected to a genome-wide microarray analysis followed by qRT-PCR for selected genes. Importantly, the parents were not intoxicated at the time of mating and were not exposed to EtOH at any time during gestation therefore the offspring were never directly exposed to EtOH. Our results showed that the offspring of alcohol-exposed parents had significant differences compared to offspring from alcohol-naïve parents. Specifically, major differences were observed in the expression of genes that mediate neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity during neurodevelopment, genes important for directing chromatin remodeling, posttranslational modifications or transcription regulation, as well as genes involved in regulation of obesity and reproductive function. These data demonstrate that repeated binge alcohol exposure during pubertal development can potentially have detrimental effects on future offspring even in the absence of direct fetal alcohol exposure.

Fetal alcohol exposure and temporal vulnerability regional differences in alcohol-induced microencephaly as a function of the timing of binge-like alcohol exposure during rat brain development.

In humans, microcephaly (small head for body size) is a common feature of fetal alcohol syndrome. An analogous measure, termed microencephaly (small brain for body size), can be used for evaluating the detrimental effects of the differential timing of alcohol exposure on brain development in animal model systems. Timed-pregnant rats were exposed to binge-like alcohol during either the first 10 days (first trimester equivalent) or second 10 days of gestation (second trimester equivalent), or the combination of first and second trimesters equivalent for prenatal treatments. Offspring from some of the animals exposed to alcohol during the combined first and second trimesters equivalent were raised artificially from postnatal day (P) 4 through P9 (part of the third trimester equivalent), and also received binge-like alcohol during this period, producing animals that were exposed to alcohol during all three trimesters equivalent. Offspring from untreated dams were also raised artificially and received alcohol only from P4 to P9, thus creating animals that were exposed to alcohol only during part of the third trimester equivalent. All pups were perfused on P10. Appropriate controls (nutritional and normally reared) were used for every alcohol treatment combination. Peak blood alcohol concentrations were not different among the treatment groups for a given sampling time. Significant somatic growth deficits occurred in offspring exposed to alcohol for the equivalent of all three trimesters, compared with offspring exposed to alcohol during other periods. Brain growth in offspring also was significantly affected by the timing of alcohol exposure. The whole brain, forebrain, and cerebellum to body weight ratios of pups exposed to alcohol during the third trimester had more significant brain growth deficits than pups in groups exposed to alcohol during other times of brain development. Although alcohol exposure during the third trimester had a significant detrimental impact on overall brain growth, significant differences in temporal vulnerability were also found for the brainstem to body weight ratios. Offspring of dams exposed to alcohol during the first trimester had the same magnitude of deficit as those exposed to alcohol during the third trimester, and those two groups were significantly deficient compared with the groups exposed to alcohol at other times, suggesting some differential vulnerability of this region to alcohol-induced injury at different times of development. This study is the first thorough examination of microencephaly and gross regional vulnerability of the developing brain as related to temporal factors of alcohol exposure in an animal model system, and the results support and expand on the findings of the available clinical literature. Furthermore, our results substantiate claims that the cessation of alcohol before the third trimester can lessen the severity of some alcohol-related birth deficits.

[The effect of lithium oxybutyrate on the development of the fetus and progeny in alcoholic intoxication of male rats]. / Vliianie litiia oksibutirata na razvitie ploda i potomstva v usloviiakh alkogol'noi intoksikatsii samtsov krys.

The effect of lithium hydroxybutyrate on the development of the fetus and offsprings was studied on a model of alcohol intoxication of male rats. Under such conditions lithium hydroxybutyrate relieved completely the negative action of alcohol on the reproductive function, according to all parameters. The learning ability of the offsprings and their behavioral disorders in a stress situation caused by alcohol were normalized. Two-week administration of 100 mg/kg lithium hydroxybutyrate had no negative effect on the embryonal and postnatal development of the offsprings.

[The corrective action of limontar in metabolic disorders in the mother-fetus system caused by ethanol exposure during pregnancy]. / Issledovanie korrigiruiushchego deistviia limontara pri obmennykh narusheniiakh v sisteme mat'--plod, vyzvannykh vozdeistviem étanola vo vremia beremennosti.

It was established in experiments on nonbred albino rats that injection of limontar (1 mg/kg) in the fetal period of pregnancy in alcoholic intoxication (6 g/kg) leads to weight loss by the female, normalization of the character of behavior and metabolic shifts in the organism, and removal of the symptoms of excitation of the sympathetic link of cardiovascular system regulation. No harmful effect of limontar on the mother-fetus biosystem was detected.

[The action of acute alcoholic intoxication on the antioxidant system and creatine kinase activity in the brain of rat embryos]. / Deistvie ostroi alkogol'noi intoksikatsii na antioksidantnoi sistemu i aktivnost' kreatinkinazy v mozge émbrionov krys.

The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was enhanced in the brain of 14-day rat embryos 1 and 3 hours after single administration of ethanol to pregnant rats. Concurrently, the levels of lipid peroxidation were changing in these periods. Ethanol, 1 g/kg, increased LPO levels in the 14-day embryonic brain, whereas its dose of 3 g/kg decreased them. It is concluded that with single administration of ethanol, free-radical processes are activated in the embryonic brain. It is suggested that the activity of creatine kinase decreases concurrently with an increase in SOD activity due to the damaging action of superoxide radicals on the enzyme molecule.

Sexual receptivity of adult female rats prenatally intoxicated with alcohol on gestational day 8.

On gestational day 8 (GD 8), pregnant albino rats received two IP injections, spaced by 4 hours, of either ethanol (2.9 g/kg in 24% v/v saline solution) or saline. Adult females exposed to ethanol in utero showed greater sensitivity to estrogen, but not to estrogen plus progesterone, for induction of lordotic response. The 5-HT1 receptor agonist 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine (5-MeODMT) had a significantly smaller effect in inhibiting lordosis response in experimental rats. The greater sensitivity to estrogen and lower sensitivity to the receptor agonist could be a consequence of long-term changes in central neurotransmitter systems induced by acute intoxication with ethanol on GD 8.

Effects of maternal ethanol consumption in rats on basal and rhythmic pituitary-adrenal function in neonatal offspring.

Neonatal corticoid treatment delays development of the circadian rhythm of plasma corticosterone in rats. We therefore sought to determine whether fetal or neonatal exposure to ethanol, a substance which activates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, produces similar effects. Subjects were the offspring of dams fed a 5.0% w/v ethanol-containing liquid diet or pair-fed an isocaloric control diet during gestation weeks two and three or during postnatal week one. At birth (day 1), the fetal ethanol-exposed pups had significantly higher brain and plasma corticosterone levels than the pair-fed or normal controls; brain and body weights were unaffected. By day 3, brain and plasma corticosterone titers in the fetal ethanol-exposed pups declined to the levels of the pair-fed and normal controls, although brain weights were significantly reduced. Significantly higher p.m. than a.m. levels of plasma corticosterone first occurred on day 18 both in the fetal ethanol-exposed pups and in the pair-fed and normal controls. Thus, despite its causing elevated corticosterone levels at birth, fetal exposure to ethanol did not affect the onset of the pituitary-adrenal circadian rhythm. On the other hand, exposure to ethanol during the first neonatal week delayed the onset of the pituitary-adrenal rhythm from day 18 to day 21. However, even greater delays occurred in the neonatal pair-fed controls, suggesting that the delays following neonatal exposure were due to nutritional deficits rather than to alcohol per se. The developmental and long-term influences of elevated corticoid levels at birth in fetal ethanol-exposed rats on other aspects of pituitary-adrenal function remain to be determined.

The effect of ethanol upon early development in mice and rats. I. In vivo effect upon preimplantation and early postimplantation stages.

The preimplantation and early postimplantation effect of chronic alcohol consumption (at least a month before mating and during pregnancy until killing) and of acute ethanol intoxication during the preimplantation period (i.v. infection of ethanol) was studied on albino rats (Wistar) and albino mice (RAP). The main results were as follows: Chronic alcoholization. Rats: significant retardation of preimplantation development and in early postimplantation stages; a tendency of lowering of the mean litter size. Mice: significant increase of the number of preimplantation pathological forms; a tendency of lowering of the mean litter size. Pathological changes show, both in rats and mice, an obvious "litter effect". Acute ethanol intoxication. Rats: significant retardation in some litters, normal or even advanced development in others. This effect differs from the previously reported effect of acute ethanol intoxication during early postimplantation stages. The results obtained attest the prenatal noxious effect of chronic ethanol consumption in both species used and of acute ethanol intoxication during preimplantation development upon early postimplantation development in rats. Within the limits of extrapolation possibilities, they represent a risk signal for other species (including human).

[Experimental findings concerning the effect of alcohol on fertilization]. / Eksperimental'nye dannye o vliianii alkogolia na oplodotvorenie

Experiments were conducted on golden hamsters. A study was made of the effect of alcohol on the fertilization process and the early stages of embryonic development. In chronic alcoholism there occurred deviations in the early development of the embryos. A single inebriation, particularly during rut and mating, caused disturbances in the fertilization and polyspermia became greater. An experimental model for the establishment and studying the disturbances of fertilization resulting from the action not only of alcohol, but also of other substances and preparations, is suggested.