INIMEC - CONICET   05467
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACION MEDICA MERCEDES Y MARTIN FERREYRA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
A Brief Alcohol Initiation During Late Gestation Promotes Alcohol Intake In Adolescent Rats.
Autor/es:
FABIO M.C.; MARCH SM; MOLINA JC; PAUTASSI RM
Lugar:
PARIS
Reunión:
Congreso; 2010 International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ISBRA) World Congress. Paris, France, September, 13-16, 2010.; 2010
Institución organizadora:
ISBRA
Resumen:
Recently, there has been a wide interest in early-onset of alcohol use, for it may playa role in the development of alcohol use disorders (AUD). Problematic use of alcohol,which mainly starts at early adolescence, is associated with a heightened probability ofAUD later in life. Little is known, however, on which factors modulate the adolescent’savidity for alcohol; and the attempts to assess this early-onset effect through animalmodels have provided mixed results. Prenatal exposure to alcohol could be one of thefactors that may affect adolescent alcohol consumption. The aim of the present studywas to analyze, through the use of an animal model, the effects of alcohol exposureduring late gestation on subsequent alcohol intake during adolescence. PregnantWistar rats were given intragastric administrations of ethanol (2 g/kg) or vehicleon gestational days 17-20. On postnatal days 36-39 (PD36-39) the offspring wasexamined on alcohol intake (g/kg) and alcohol percent selection using a 2-bottle-choiceprotocol. During each 2-h session adolescents had access to tap water and a givenethanol solution (3% on the first session at PD36, then increased by 1% per day untilreaching 6% on PD39). Animals prenatally exposed to alcohol exhibited heightenedalcohol intake (g/kg) and alcohol percent selection than controls counterparts. Thefacilitative effect of prenatal alcohol experience was constant across sessions, withhighest alcohol consumption observed in session 2 (PD37). Moreover, maximalalcohol consumption on a given test day was significantly higher in animals that hadexperienced alcohol in-utero than in control, vehicle-treated animals. These resultsfit well with previous epidemiological and pre-clinical data suggesting that moderatealcohol exposure during late gestation can promote alcohol intake later in life. Whilemost of the previous animal rat studies focused on the preweanling stage (for reviewand references see Spear and Molina, 2005; Chotro et al., 2007), the present workunderscores the facilitative effects of gestational alcohol on alcohol affinity during theadolescent stage.