Voluntary beer drinking by pregnant rats: offspring growth, development and behavior.

A new model for voluntary beer drinking during gestation is presented. Female Long-Evans rats voluntarily drank 56 ml beer per day (pregestation) and 66 ml beer per day (gestation), resulting in an ethanol intake of 9.5 g/kg/day (pregestation) and 9.0 g/kg/day (gestation). Peak blood alcohol levels of dams were 192.5 mg/dl (pregestation) and 157 mg/dl (gestation). Body weights of male and female offspring of beer drinkers were greater than controls. Urinary pH levels were abnormally low at birth, and thymus/body weight ratios were high at birth. Abnormal spleen/body ratio and heart/body ratios were observed in 15- and 29-day-old female offspring of beer drinkers. No hyperactivity or developmental delays were observed. Male offspring of dams in the beer group were hypoactive on a few days of testing. Male and female offspring of beer drinking dams performed better than controls on some tests. This method for voluntary beer drinking by pregnant rats may be useful for identifying the subtle consequences of maternal beer drinking.