INVESTIGADORES
PUETA mariana
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Interaction between pre- and early postnatal alcohol-related memories: impact upon alcohol acceptance patterns
Autor/es:
PUETA, M.; ABATE, P.; SPEAR, N.E.; MOLINA, J.C.
Lugar:
Florida, EEUU
Reunión:
Congreso; 26th Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the 12th Congress of the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism.; 2003
Institución organizadora:
Research Society on Alcoholism
Resumen:
INTERACTION BETWEEN PRE- AND EARLY POSTNATAL ALCOHOL-RELATED MEMORIES: IMPACT UPON ALCOHOL ACCEPTANCE PATTERNS. M. Pueta, P. Abate, N.E. Spear & J.C. Molina. Instituto de Investigación Médica  M.M. Ferreyra, Argentina and Dept. of Psychology, Binghamton University. Near term rat fetuses acquire alcohol-related chemosensory information and express this memory later in development. Preweanlings also sense alcohol in maternal milk and this experience markedly affects subsequent reactivity to the drug. Very few studies have been aimed at understanding the possible interaction between alcohol experiences derived from maternal intoxication during late gestation and during the nursing period. The main goal of the present study was to assess the impact of prenatal and early postnatal experiences with alcohol upon subsequent recognition and acceptance patterns of the drug’s orosensory attributes. Pregnant rats were administered with ethanol (2g/kg, i.g.) or water during gestational days 17-20. After birth, pups suckled from dams subjected to an intragastric administration of either alcohol (2.5 g/kg) or water during postnatal days (PDs) 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Pups were evaluated in terms of alcohol consumption during PDs 15 and 16. All subjects received an intraoral infusion of ethanol in distilled water (175 mg %). This alcohol concentration is similar to the one encountered in the amniotic fluid and in milk after dams are subjected to the above mentioned subnarcoleptic alcohol doses. Preweanlings were weighed before and after each intake test and percentage body weight gains were calculated. To assess possible infantile alcohol-mediated conditioning, each intake test was followed by an i.g. administration of ethanol equivalent to 0, 0.5, 1, or 2 g/kg. Pertinent ANOVAs indicated that alcohol consumption scores significantly varied as a function of the  interaction between pre- and postnatal ethanol experiences and the day of evaluation. During the first intake test there were no differences across groups. During the second day, infants exposed to alcohol during late gestation and during breastfeeding showed significantly higher alcohol intake scores than did the remaining groups. A conditioning effect was also observed. Pups that consumed alcohol paired with the process of intoxication, significantly reduced alcohol consumption during the second day of test. This effect failed to interact with pre- and/or postnatal history of the pups. These results show that pre- and early postnatal alcohol experiences interact in terms of facilitating later acceptance of alcohol without affecting the sensitivity towards the drug’s unconditioned properties.