Brolese Giovana, Lunardi Paula, Broetto Núbia, Engelke Douglas S, Lírio Franciane, Batassini Cristiane, Tramontina Ana Carolina, Gonçalves Carlos-Alberto
Neuroscience Post-Graduation Program - Basic Science Health Institute - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Brazil.
Biochemistry Department - Basic Science Health Institute - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, Brazil.
Behav Brain Res. 2014 Aug 1;269:175-84. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.04.023. Epub 2014 Apr 28.
Alcohol consumption by women during gestation has become increasingly common. Although it is widely accepted that exposure to high doses of ethanol has long-lasting detrimental effects on brain development, the case for moderate doses is underappreciated, and benchmark studies have demonstrated structural and behavioral defects associated with moderate prenatal alcohol exposure in humans and animal models. This study aimed to investigate the influence of in utero exposure to moderate levels of ethanol throughout pregnancy on learning/memory, anxiety parameters and neuroglial parameters in adolescent offspring. Female rats were exposed to an experimental protocol throughout gestation up to weaning. After mating, the dams were divided into three groups and treated with only water (control), non-alcoholic beer (vehicle) or 10% (vv) beer solution (moderate prenatal alcohol exposure - MPAE). Adolescent male offspring were subjected to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task to evaluate learning/memory and anxiety-like behavior. Hippocampi were dissected and slices were obtained for immunoquantification of GFAP, NeuN, S100B and the NMDA receptor. The MPAE group clearly presented anxiolytic-like behavior, even though they had learned how to avoid the aversive arm. S100B protein was increased in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the group treated with alcohol, and alterations in GFAP expression were also shown. This study indicates that moderate ethanol doses administered during pregnancy could induce anxiolytic-like effects, suggesting an increase in risk-taking behavior in adolescent male offspring. Furthermore, the data show the possibility that glial cells are involved in the altered behavior present after prenatal ethanol treatment.
孕期女性饮酒的情况日益普遍。尽管人们普遍认为，高剂量乙醇暴露对大脑发育具有长期的有害影响，但适度剂量的影响却未得到充分认识，且基准研究已证明，在人类和动物模型中，孕期适度饮酒会导致结构和行为缺陷。本研究旨在调查孕期全程子宫内暴露于适度水平乙醇对青春期后代学习/记忆、焦虑参数和神经胶质参数的影响。雌性大鼠在整个妊娠期直至断奶都接受实验方案处理。交配后，将母鼠分为三组，分别用纯水（对照组）、无酒精啤酒（赋形剂）或10%（体积比）啤酒溶液（孕期适度酒精暴露 - MPAE）进行处理。对青春期雄性后代进行加迷宫辨别回避任务，以评估学习/记忆和焦虑样行为。解剖海马体并获取切片，用于对胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）、神经元核抗原（NeuN）、S100B蛋白和N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸（NMDA）受体进行免疫定量分析。MPAE组明显表现出抗焦虑样行为，尽管它们已经学会如何避开厌恶臂。酒精处理组的脑脊液（CSF）中S100B蛋白增加，并且也显示出GFAP表达的改变。本研究表明，孕期给予适度剂量乙醇可诱导抗焦虑样效应，提示青春期雄性后代冒险行为增加。此外，数据显示神经胶质细胞可能参与了产前乙醇处理后出现的行为改变。
