Paternal alcohol consumption alters offspring´s behavior and early motor ability development

GOTFRYD, LUCILA; NEMIROVSKY, SERGIO; CALVO, JUAN C.; FESSER, ESTEFANÍA A.; CÁNEPA, EDUARDO T.; STINSON, MARCELO G.; ERLEJMAN, ALEJANDRA G.; FONTANA, VANINA A.

Córdoba

Congreso; . IX INTERNATIONAL MEETING of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA).; 2019

Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (LASBRA)

In a previous study, we observed that male alcohol consumption affected sperm biochemical parameters. There was a delay during early embryo development in vitro of the offspring of these mice. Also, they were underweighted during the first weeks of life, recovering weight in adulthood. We detected that the mice offspring health status was somehow altered with a modification of the spleen cell population. In the present study we assessed the effects of paternal alcohol consumption on the puppy´s motor ability and behavior at adulthood. For this, CF-1 male mice were exposed or not to 15% (v/v) ethanol in drinking water ad libitum for 15 days. Males, treated or not, were mated with non-treated CF-1 female mice in a ratio 1:1. Pregnancy outcome from males exposed (alcohol group, A) or not (control group, C) to ethanol was evaluated and litter mortality and organ weight registered. Developmental (Surface righting test) and behavioral tests (Open field or OF, Elevated plus maze or EPM, Object context recognition test or OCT and Social dominance tube test) were assessed. Litter from alcohol group presented a delay in surface righting, taking longer time to do it seven days after birth, compared to control group (C = 1,49 s ± 0,9817 s and A = 7,628 s ± 11,91 s, p< 0.0001 ). The OF test showed that males from alcohol group spent a longer time in the center of the maze than the control group (C = 28,24 s ± 7,581 s and A = 62,63 s ± 12,1 s, p< 0.05) but there were no differences within females. Control group was more socially dominant than alcohol group, both in male (C = 72 % and A = 28 %, p< 0.0001) and female (C = 63 % and A = 37%, p< 0.05) offspring. We found no differences between groups when we evaluated the offspring for OCT and EPM tests. Altogether, these results suggest that paternal moderate alcohol consumption modifies the offspring motor development, delaying the surface righting. It also modifies their behavior, impairing their social dominance and exacerbating their open field activity.