2. Response to an ethanol challenge dose on sleep time and blood alcohol level in Wistar rats prenatally exposed to ethanol during gestational day 8

S FULGINITI; J ARTINIAN; R CABRERA; P CONTRERAS

ALCOHOL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1987 vol. 6 p. 253 - 256

0741-8329

FULGINITI, S., J. ARTINIAN, R. CABRERA AND P. CONTRERAS. Response to an ethanol challenge dose on sleep time and blood alcohol level in Wistar rats prenatally exposed to ethanol during gestational day 8. ALCOHOL 6(3) 253-256, 1989.--Pregnant albino rats were treated during the eighth day of gestation (GD 8), with two IP injections, spaced by 4 hours, of either ethanol (2.9 g/kg in 24% v/v saline solution) or saline. Maternal blood alcohol levels reached a peak of457 mg/dl 60 rain after the second dose. At the age of 45 days, an equal number of male and female offspring were injected with 3.5 g/kg ethanol and sleep time and blood ethanol levels were determined upon awakening. Ethanol metabolic rate was studied in other individuals injected with the same dose of ethanol and the slope of the linear descending portion of thecurves was calculated. Animals that received ethanol in utero exhibited shorter sleep time and higher blood ethanol levels at the moment of awakening than controls. The rate of ethanol metabolism was similar in both groups. These results show that an acute intoxication with ethanol during GD 8 induced long-term changes in the CNS of offspring which caused reduced sensitivity to ethanol hypnotic effects.