LONG-TERM EMOTIONAL EFFECTS OF AN ACUTE INTERACTION WITH AN ETHANOL INTOXICATED DAM.

CULLERÉ, ME; MOLINA, JC

SAO PAULO

Congreso; 2011 Meeting of the Latin-American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA). San Pablo, Brasil, March 31st-April 1st, 2011.; 2011

LATIN AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH ON ALCOHOLISM

Maternal ethanol exposure during the first postnatal week disrupts the behavioral repertoire linked with infantile care. These alterations impact on normal offspring development. It has been observed that pup‟s ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) are augmented after an acute interaction with an ethanol administered dam. Given that USVs are considered as anxiety-like responses, it is possible to argue that this increase represents a negative emotional component of the mentioned experience. The aim of the present experiment was: (i) to describe the time course of USVs emission after a single interaction with an intoxicated dam on postnatal day (PD) 3; (ii) to assess long-term emotional outcomes of this early ethanol experience. Infant rats (PD16) that had interacted with an ethanol administered dam on PD3 were evaluated in terms of water and milk intake in the presence or absence of ethanol odour, a stimulus present while interacting with an intoxicated dam.On PD3 dams were administered with ethanol (2.5 g/kg.) or water and allowed to interact with their offspring for 2 hs. USV (Frequency range: Band 1: 22-45 kHz, Band 2: 46-100 kHz, associated with aversive and non-aversive responsiveness, respectively) were recorded in different pups at 5, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after maternal reunion. Pups from intoxicated dams exhibited higher amounts of vocalizations than controls. Moreover, Band 1 vocalizations of pups that had interacted with ethanol-treated dams increased as a function of time, whereas Band 2 vocalizations diminished across test. These patterns were not observed in control pups. During the intake test (PD16), milk was preferred over water. In the presence of ethanol odour, animals from intoxicated dams ingested significantly less milk than controls. The present results confirm previous observations indicating exacerbated USVs responses after an acute interaction with an intoxicated dam. Maternal care alterations and/or ethanol-induced hypothermia could be syndicated as factors involved in the origin of this effect. The impact of this early interaction persisted over time. Ethanol derived pups rejected milk in the presence of ethanol odour, a possible evidence of an aversive memory originated by the association of maternal dysfunctions with the presence of chemosensory properties of ethanol.