Effects of paternal alcohol intake on the neurological health of the offspring

LUCILA GOTFRYD; MAITE CAMBIASSO; MARCELO GABRIEL STINSON; SOL BIROLO; JUAN CARLOS CALVO; VANINA FONTANA

Online

Simposio; International Symposium on Reproductive Health: overcoming barriers for research in reproduction; 2021

Previously, we observed that male alcohol consumption affected sperm biochemical parameters and DNA integrity. CF1 male mice were exposed (treated) or not (control) to 15% (v/v) ethanol in drinking water ad libitum for 12 days. Males (treated or control) were mated with untreated females and two-cell embryos were collected and cultured for 7 days. The embryos from treated males presented anomalous inner cell mass and trophoblast morphologies. Other pregnant females were allowed to complete the gestational period. We found that the offspring of treated males were under weighed during the first weeks of life, recovering weight in adulthood when they became over weighed. Also, we detected that the treated mice offspring health status was somehow altered with a modification of the spleen and blood cell populations. The resulting progeny showed lighter brains, and significantly altered physical and behavioral parameters in treated group. Litter from treated males presented a delay in surface righting, taking longer time to do it seven days after birth. The appearance of the hind grasping reflex was also delayed in male and female offspring from treated males. The Open Field test showed that males spent a longer time in the center of the maze than the control group, suggesting they had more anxiety-like behaviors. Also, control group was more socially dominant than treated in male and female offspring. Alterations in dominance parameters, however, were modified by early-life exposure to an enriched environment. Finally, we made a screening for potential modifications in the expression of candidate genes in the medial prefrontal cortex of young adult males from the offspring of treated mice. This revealed elevated expression of Egr1, a gene involved in neural plasticity. Moderate paternal alcohol intake has a detrimental effect on its progeny?s social skills, associated with altered expression of mPFC genes involved in neural plasticity.