Steane Sarah E, Burgess Danielle J, Moritz Karen M, Akison Lisa K
School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
Mater Research, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD 4101, Australia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 20;25(5):2471. doi: 10.3390/ijms25052471.
Maternal exposures during pregnancy can impact the establishment of the ovarian reserve in offspring, the lifetime supply of germ cells that determine a woman's reproductive lifespan. However, despite alcohol consumption being common in women of reproductive age, the impact of prenatal alcohol on ovarian development is rarely investigated. This study used an established rat model of periconceptional ethanol exposure (PCEtOH; 12.5% / ethanol) for 4 days prior to 4 days post-conception. Ovaries were collected from neonates (day 3 and day 10), and genes with protein products involved in regulating the ovarian reserve analyzed by qPCR. Adult offspring had estrous cycles monitored and breeding performance assessed. PCEtOH resulted in subtle changes in expression of genes regulating apoptosis at postnatal day (PN) 3, whilst those involved in regulating growth and recruitment of primordial follicles were dysregulated at PN10 in neonatal ovaries. Despite these gene expression changes, there were no significant impacts on breeding performance in adulthood, nor on F2-generation growth or survival. This contributes additional evidence to suggest that a moderate level of alcohol consumption exclusively around conception, when a woman is often unaware of her pregnancy, does not substantially impact the fertility of her female offspring.
孕期母亲接触某些物质会影响后代卵巢储备的建立,卵巢储备是决定女性生殖寿命的生殖细胞终身供应量。然而,尽管育龄女性饮酒很常见,但产前酒精对卵巢发育的影响却很少被研究。本研究采用了一种已建立的围孕期乙醇暴露(PCEtOH;12.5%乙醇)大鼠模型,在受孕前4天至受孕后4天进行暴露。从新生大鼠(出生第3天和第10天)收集卵巢,通过定量聚合酶链反应(qPCR)分析参与调节卵巢储备的蛋白质产物的基因。对成年后代的发情周期进行监测,并评估繁殖性能。围孕期乙醇暴露导致出生后第3天(PN3)调节细胞凋亡的基因表达发生细微变化,而在新生大鼠卵巢的出生后第10天(PN10),参与调节原始卵泡生长和募集的基因表达失调。尽管有这些基因表达变化,但对成年后的繁殖性能以及F2代的生长或存活均无显著影响。这进一步证明,在女性通常未意识到自己怀孕的受孕前后适度饮酒,不会对其雌性后代的生育能力产生实质性影响。