INTERGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF MODERATE PATERNAL ALCOHOL INTAKE

GOTFRYD, LUCILA; BIROLO SOL CAMILA; CALVO JUAN CARLOS; FESSER ESTEFANÍA AYLÉN; CANEPA, EDUARDO; STINSON MARCELO GABRIEL; CAMBIASSO MAITE; FONTANA VANINA ANDREA

Simposio; LASBRA: Neurobiology of Alcohol-Use Disorders; 2020

LASBRA

The harmful effects of paternal alcoholconsumption on the offspring is poorly explored and not yet fully understood. After moderate alcohol consumption (15% ethanol indrinking water for 14 days), the testicular germline and sperm of adult CF-1male mice present histological and epigeneticchanges, as well as damage to DNA integrity.Males (treated or control) were mated with untreated females and two-cellembryos were collected and cultured for 7 days. The embryos from treatedmales presented anomalous morphologies,evidencing a deleterious effect of the treatment on embryonic development. Other pregnant females wereallowed to complete the gestational period and we found that the offspringof treated males showedlighter brains, and significantlyaltered physical (surface righting and hind graspingreflexes) and behavioural (open field test, dominance test) parameters.Alterations in dominance parameters, however, were reversible by early-lifeexposure to an enriched environment. Additionally,a screening for potential modifications in the expression of candidate genes inthe medial prefrontal cortex of young adult males from the offspring of treatedmice revealed elevated expression of Egr1, a gene involvedin neural plasticity. Moreover, we found testicularand spermatic changes in the offspring oftreated males. Overall, our study providescritical insight into the effects of alcoholconsumption on the reproductive capacity of male mice and their maleprogeny, and also suggests that moderate paternalalcohol intake may have a negativeimpact on its progeny´s social skills, althoughpartially reversible with early stimulation inan enriched environment.