Gianoulakis C
Douglas Hospital Research Centre, McGill University, Verdun, Que., Canada.
Behav Brain Res. 1990 Jan 22;36(3):217-28. doi: 10.1016/0166-4328(90)90060-r.
Prenatal exposure to ethanol causes learning disabilities and low I.Q. scores. The objective of the present studies was to investigate whether exposure of rats to ethanol in utero, would induce a deficit in spatial memory in adult life. Pregnant rats were fed with an ethanol diet from day 1 of pregnancy till parturition. Control rats were either pair-fed with an isocaloric sucrose diet or were fed with lab-chow ad libitum. On the first day of birth, offspring exposed to ethanol in utero were placed with a control mother fed with lab-chow, while offspring of the lab-chow fed dams were placed with ethanol-treated dams. At 40, 60 and 90 days postnatally, behavioral testing was performed using the Morris swim maze, a test of spatial memory. Results indicated that the offspring exposed to ethanol in utero presented deficits in spatial memory processes. Ethanol did not completely block the learning of the swim maze task but the alcohol-exposed offspring exhibited longer latencies to perform the task, swam longer distances prior to locating and climbing onto the platform, and when the platform was removed, searched for it in all 4 quadrants of the pool. Restricted caloric intake during gestation and maternal behavior in early postnatal life also induced deficits in the performance on the swim maze task. However, these deficits were mild and short-lasting being absent at 60 and 90 days of age. In contrast, the deficits induced by ethanol were more severe and longer-lasting, being present in adult life.
产前接触乙醇会导致学习障碍和低智商分数。本研究的目的是调查子宫内接触乙醇的大鼠在成年后是否会出现空间记忆缺陷。从怀孕第1天到分娩，给怀孕大鼠喂食乙醇饮食。对照大鼠要么与等热量的蔗糖饮食配对喂养，要么随意喂食实验室饲料。出生第一天，子宫内接触乙醇的后代与喂食实验室饲料的对照母鼠放在一起，而喂食实验室饲料的母鼠的后代则与经乙醇处理的母鼠放在一起。在出生后40、60和90天，使用莫里斯水迷宫（一种空间记忆测试）进行行为测试。结果表明，子宫内接触乙醇的后代在空间记忆过程中存在缺陷。乙醇并没有完全阻碍水迷宫任务的学习，但接触乙醇的后代完成任务的潜伏期更长，在找到并爬上平台之前游的距离更远，并且当平台被移走时，会在水池的所有四个象限中寻找它。孕期热量摄入受限和产后早期的母性行为也会导致水迷宫任务表现出现缺陷。然而，这些缺陷很轻微且持续时间短，在60和90日龄时不存在。相比之下，乙醇诱导的缺陷更严重且持续时间更长，在成年期仍然存在。
