Effects of relatively moderate prenatal doses of alcohol on drug recognition patterns and learning-regulated respiratory alterations in animal and human models.

ANUNZIATA, F; MOLINA, JC; MACCHIONE, AF

Encuentro; I LASBRA VIRTUAL MEETING "Neurobiology of Alcohol-Use Disorders".; 2020

The notion of fetal alcohol programming has been gained scientific support during the last years. This phenomenon implies early neural plasticity relative to learning mechanisms comprising ethanol´s sensory cues and physiological effects of the drug. Prenatal and neonatal ethanol (EtOH) exposure affects neonatal respiratory neuroplasticity, acting as a risk factor related with the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Some functional respiratory deficiencies have been identified in organisms exposed to early EtOH when faced with deficits of ambient oxygen and/or returning to normal oxygen conditions.Summarized results of experiments carried out in pup rats and human neonates revealed alterations of a relatively moderate early ethanol exposure on cardiorespiratory frequencies and an increment in appetitive facial reactions when subjects were stimulated with the odor of the drug. It was also observed respiratory plasticity and metabolic changes in blood gases under different air conditions (normoxia or hypoxia).This research provides information to improve the acknowledgment of early alcohol exposure from low to relative moderate doses of EtOH, aiming to collaborate in future strategies for prevention, diagnosis and promotion of children's health during the first years of life.