PERINATAL EXPOSURE TO ETHANOL AFFECTS POSTNATAL DEGENERATION AND REGENERATION OF SEROTONINERGIC PATHWAYS IN THE SPINAL-CORD

It has been reported that chronic ethanol exposure during intrauterine life may cause severe adverse effects in early infancy that have been termed fetal alcohol syndrome (1-3). These alterations may perturb th e normal brain development as though alcohol exposure might have alter ed the basic cellular interrelationship underlying neuronal plasticity . The neonatal lesion of the serotoninergic pathways in the central ne rvous system with the selective neurotoxin 5,7-DHT supplies an ideal m odel for studying the effects of substances of abuse on degenerative a nd regenerative events. The authors' data indicate that perinatal expo sure to ethanol (3% in drinking water) causes a more rapid degeneratio n of the serotoninergic pathways affected by 5,7-DHT; conversely, rege neration and reinnervation of the lumbar spinal cord are markedly impr oved by ethanol exposure. These results suggest that perinatal ethanol exposure promotes cellular changes that at later stages are capable o f improving neural repair in the brain.