ETHANOL IN-UTERO INDUCES EPITHELIAL-CELL DAMAGE AND ALTERED KINETICS IN THE DEVELOPING RAT INTESTINE

The effect of prenatal ethanol exposure on the intestinal maturation o f rat fetuses was investigated to understand the nutritional alteratio ns found in the offspring of alcoholic mothers. Female Wistar rats wer e maintained on solid diet and 25% ethanol solution as drinking fluid during pregnancy, and non-alcoholic isocaloric pregnant mothers were u sed as controls. At birth, intestines from unsuckled pups were removed for study. The weight and length of the intestine decreased significa ntly when ethanol was present in utero. Ultrastructural evaluation of the epithelium revealed loss of contact between neighboring enterocyte s and abnormal dilation of the cisternae of the Golgi apparatus in eth anol-exposed pups. Further, increased lysosome-like vesiculation and e nhanced lysosomal beta-galactosidase activity was observed in these ne onates. The total number of absorptive enterocytes in the epithelium w as reduced by 30% in ethanol-exposed neonates as compared to controls, due to altered cell growth and death during fetal life. Ethanol in ut ero stimulated epithelial cell migration which compensated cell loss, as demonstrated by 5'-Bromodeoxyuridine labeling. These findings could have important implications for the assimilation of nutrients and fai lure to thrive in infants with fetal alcohol syndrome. (C) 1997 Wiley- Liss, Inc.