Fetal malnutrition: a possible cause of the fetal alcohol syndrome.

The effects of ethanol ingestion during pregnancy on total folate levels in fetal tissues and on the concentrations of free amino acids in fetal and maternal plasma were examined in the rat. No differences were observed between the ethanol-fed and the control groups in total folates in fetal brain and liver. However, the concentration of fetal plasma histidine was reduced by 50% as a result of maternal ethanol consumption; the maternal plasma histidine level was not affected. It is suggested that fetal malnutrition in an essential amino acid, histidine, could impair fetal protein synthesis producing the fetal alcohol syndrome.