HUMAN NEONATES PRENATALLY EXPOSED TO ETHANOL EXHIBIT RESPIRATORY DEPRESSIONS WHEN EXPOSED TO THE OLFACTORY CUES OF THE DRUG

MITRANO ADRIANA; ANUNZIATA FLORENCIA; MOLINA JUAN CARLOS; AHUMADA LUIS

Puerto Varas

Congreso; VIII LASBRA INTERNATIONAL MEETING: Neurobiological basis of alcoholism: from molecules to behavior; 2017

Following maternal ethanol ingestion fetusesprocess the drug´s chemosensory cuespresent in utero. The unborn organism is alsocapable of associating these cues withphysiological effects of the drug. In altricialmammals, ethanol suppresses fetal breathingmovements. This effect appears to beassociated with the drug´s sensory cues. Laterexposure to ethanol odor elicits conditionedbreathing depression. The present studyanalyzed whether different patterns ofethanol use or abuse during humanpregnancy affects respiratory rates inneonates re-exposed to the odor of the drug.Mothers were classified as infrequent,moderate or excessive drinkers in accordancewith ethanol ingestion patterns duringpregnancy. Forty-three neonates were testedin terms of respiratory and cardiacfrequencies when primarily exposed toethanol or to lemon odor. No significantdifferences were observed across maternalgroups in terms of neonatal body weightsand sizes, head circumferences, Apgar scores,gestational ages, cardiac frequencies oroxygen saturation scores. When neonateswere stimulated with lemon odor, respiratoryfrequencies were similar across maternalgroups. Exposure to ethanol odor significantlyaffected breathing rates as a function ofmaternal drinking patterns. During the initialphase of the test, babies representative ofexcessive drinkers exhibited a significantdecrease in breathing rates relative to neonates delivered by infrequent drinkers.The results indicate that neonatal breathingalterations are observed as a function ofrelatively high ethanol exposure duringpregnancy and olfactory neonatal reexposure to the drug´s chemosensoryproperties. This alteration suggests thatethanol-related learning processes arecapable of disrupting the physiological wellbeing of human neonates