RAT PERINATES THAT ARE HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO ETHANOL´S DISRUPTIVE EFFECTS ON RESPIRATION LATER EXHIBIT ABRUPT RESPIRATORY DEPRESSIONS UNDER NORMOXIC OR HYPOXIC CONDITIONS.

MACCHIONE, AF; ANUNZIATA, F; MOLINA, JC

Valencia

Congreso; 15th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism.; 2015

Numerous studies have shown that alcohol is one of the most common teratogenic agents and is able to cause irreversible damage to the physiology of the newborn. The use and abuse of this psychotropic drug during early ontogeny generates a spectrum of alterations implying the interaction of learning processes and respiratory plasticity. The aim of this study was discriminate the breathing response during different periods of normoxia and hypoxia (O2 8%) as a function of prior experiences with the drug (postnatal days 3, 5 and 7) and the level of sensitivity in terms of respiratory depression. During the mentioned days rat pups received an i.g. administration of 0 or 2 g/kg ethanol and were subsequently tested in a whole body plethysmograph. At PD9, all pups were evaluated in terms of breathing frequencies during periods of normoxia or hypoxia. These evaluations were conducted under the state of sobriety and while being intoxicated with ethanol (2 g/kg). While sober, only those pups that during postnatal days 3-7 were highly sensitive to ethanol´s disruptive effects upon respiration exhibited a marked breathing depression. This phenomenon was also observed under the state of sobriety or intoxication when tested under a hypoxic condition. The data indicates two main findings relative to early heightened sensitivity to the drug´s depressive effects: a) it elicits a conditioned contextual response mimicking ethanol´s alterations on the respiratory system and b) disrupts the capability of the pup to generate a compensatory hyperventilation response when confronted with an hypoxic episode.