The role of dietary fat in alcohol's prenatal effects

Pregnant rats were fed a control diet or high saturated fat diet (lard) for 6 weeks prior to breeding and continued to consume these diets during preg nancy. Beginning on gestation day 8, rats in each diet group were intubated with 5.5 or 0 g/kg alcohol. Rats in the 0 g/kg group were pair-fed to thos e in their respective 5.5 g/kg groups. Offspring were weighed at birth. On postnatal days 18 and 20, they were tested for passive avoidance learning a nd locomotor activity, respectively. Animals prenatally exposed to alcohol weighed less at birth and at weaning time (21 days of age) and required mor e trials to reach criterion in the passive avoidance test but did not diffe r in activity. Diet did not affect any of these measures significantly nor were there any significant interactions. We conclude that high saturated fa t from lard does not influence alcohol's prenatal effects. (C) 2000 Elsevie r Science Inc. All rights reserved.