Navarro Daniela, Navarrete Francisco, Villalba Nerina, Torregrosa Abraham B, Caltana Laura, Gasparyan Ani, Brusco Alicia, Manzanares Jorge
Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad Miguel Hernández-CSIC, Avda. de Ramón y Cajal s/n, San Juan de Alicante, 03550 Alicante, Spain.
Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientada a Resultados en Salud (RICORS), Red de Investigación en Atención Primaria de Adicciones (RIAPAd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, MICINN and FEDER, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
Biomolecules. 2025 Aug 27;15(9):1239. doi: 10.3390/biom15091239.
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and lactation remains a significant global issue. Preventive policies have proven insufficient, and consumption rates remain high, mainly due to a lack of awareness, the misconception that only high alcohol intake harms the fetus, inconsistent medical advice, and pre-existing alcohol use disorders. Alcohol consumption is linked to child harm during critical stages of development. Using a recently published model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) developed by our group, we analyzed brain changes in mothers who consumed alcohol during pregnancy and lactation and the behavioral consequences at the emotional-cognitive level and in caring for their offspring. We also considered the previous drinking history, using the paradigm of voluntary pre-gestational alcohol consumption. In addition, from gestational day 7 (GD7) until the day of sacrifice, mothers received a 3 g/kg dose of alcohol every 12 h via gavage. Our findings revealed deficiencies in maternal care, anxiety and depressive-like behavior, and aversive stimulus learning disturbances. These were associated with changes in gene targets linked to stress-axis regulation, reward circuits, and neuroplasticity. Additionally, we observed increased microgliosis and astrogliosis, indicating neuroinflammation in brain regions involved in cognition and emotional states' regulation.
孕期和哺乳期饮酒仍然是一个重大的全球性问题。事实证明，预防政策并不充分，饮酒率依然很高，这主要是由于缺乏认识、存在只有大量饮酒才会伤害胎儿的错误观念、医学建议不一致以及先前就存在酒精使用障碍。饮酒与发育关键阶段的儿童伤害有关。我们利用本团队最近发表的胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）模型，分析了在孕期和哺乳期饮酒的母亲的大脑变化以及在情感认知层面和照顾后代方面的行为后果。我们还采用孕前自愿饮酒的模式考虑了她们先前的饮酒史。此外，从妊娠第7天（GD7）到处死当天，母亲们每隔12小时通过灌胃接受3 g/kg剂量的酒精。我们的研究结果揭示了母亲在照顾方面的不足、焦虑和类似抑郁的行为以及厌恶刺激学习障碍。这些与与应激轴调节、奖赏回路和神经可塑性相关的基因靶点变化有关。此外，我们观察到小胶质细胞增生和星形胶质细胞增生增加，这表明在参与认知和情绪状态调节的脑区存在神经炎症。
