TERATOGENIC ACTIONS OF ETHANOL IN THE MOUSE - A MINIREVIEW

The deleterious effects of prenatal ethanol exposure have been extensi vely documented in clinical and experimental studies. This paper provi des an overview of work conducted with mice to examine the myriad of a dverse consequences that result from embryonic/fetal exposure to ethan ol. All of the hallmark features of the clinical fetal alcohol syndrom e have been demonstrated in mice, including prenatal and postnatal gro wth retardation, structural malformations and behavioral abnormalities associated with central nervous system dysfunction. As expected, the severity and profile of effects is related to both dosage level and ti ming of exposure. In addition, these effects have been demonstrated fo llowing acute and chronic exposure, with a variety of routes of admini stration employed. Furthermore, a number of strains have been used in these studies and the variant response (susceptibility) to the teratog enic actions of ethanol exhibited among different mouse strains suppor t the notion that genetic factors govern, at least in part, vulnerabil ity to these effects of ethanol. More recent studies using mouse model s have focused on examining potential mechanisms underlying the full s pectrum of ethanol's teratogenic actions. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.