Emotional reactivity in adolescent animals with or without prenatal ethanol exposure

PAUTASSI, R.M.; MOLINA, J. C.; MARCH, S. M.; FABIO, M.C.

Congreso; II RCN, Second Joint Meeting of the Argentine Society for Neuroscience (SAN: XXV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias) and the Argentine Workshop in Neuroscience (TAN: XII Taller Argentino de Neurociencias); 2010

Problematic use of alcohol, which mainly starts at early adolescence, is associated with a heightened probability of Alcohol use Disorders later in life. We recently underscored the facilitative effects of gestational alcohol on adolescent alcohol affinity (Fabio et al., 2010). This study aimed at analyzing differences in emotional reactivity underlying this facilitative effect. Pregnant Wistar rats were given ethanol (2 g/kg, ig) or vehicle on gestational days 17-20. Their adolescent offspring was challenged with ethanol (2.5 or 0.0 g/kg) or left untreated and screened for motor // 201 // 201 activation in an open-field arena. Afterwards, they were assessed for appetitive (50-60khz) and aversive (20-30khz) emission of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). We observed ethanol-induced activation and heightened USVs (both appetitive and aversive) in animals challenged with ethanol, and these effects did not differ across prenatal treatments. A subsequent experiment revealed similar blood alcohol levels at adolescence, after ethanol or vehicle prenatal exposure. Under these experimental conditions, the facilitative effects of gestational alcohol exposure on adolescent alcohol affinity cannot be explained in terms of differential emotional reactivity caused by prenatal exposure.