Acute ethanol contamination of the amniotic fluid during gestational day 21: postnatal changes in alcohol responsiveness in rats.

Two experiments investigated the effects of an acute alcohol prenatal experience during gestational Day 21 in the rat. At postnatal Days 8 and 9, this experience was sufficient to significantly increase ethanol odor preference as well as alcohol intake. Fetuses treated with a nonethanol stimulus (lemon) also exhibited changes suggesting increased lemon olfactory acceptance patterns (Exp. 1). Furthermore, when the olfactory component of the solutions experienced in utero were later paired with a novel tactile cue, responsiveness to such cue was strongly affected. Pups prenatally exposed to alcohol exhibited significantly lower tactile preference scores when texture was postnatally paired with ethanol odor when compared to specific controls. This effect was also observed in lemon-treated subjects after pairing defined by lemon-texture trials (Exp. 2). The results reported in alcohol-treated subjects appear not to be related with postabsorptive effects of the drug. It is suggested that sensory prenatal experience with alcohol is responsible for the reported changes in postnatal alcohol responsiveness patterns.