Effect of prenatal ethanol exposure during the brain growth spurt of the guinea pig

This study tested the hypothesis that prenatal ethanol exposure during the last third of gestation, including the brain growth spurt (BGS), in the gui nea pig produces neurobehavioural teratogenicity, manifesting as brain grow th restriction and hyperactivity. Pregnant guinea pigs (term, about gestati onal day (GD) 68) received oral administration of ethanol (2 g/kg maternal body weight per day on GD 43 and/or GD 44 and then 4 g/kg maternal body wei ght per day from GD 45 to GD 62), isocaloric-sucrose/pair-feeding, or water . Maternal blood ethanol concentration (BEC) on GD 57 or 58, at 1 h after t he daily dose, was 340 +/- 76 mg/dl (n = 8). Ethanol treatment decreased br ain, cerebral cortical, hippocampal, and cerebellar weights at GD 63 (P <0. 05), and decreased brain and cerebral cortical weights at postnatal day 10 (P <0.05), with no effect on body weight and no apparent effect on spontane ous locomotor activity. The data demonstrate that, in the guinea pig, prena tal ethanol exposure during the last third of gestation, including the BGS, decreases brain weight that persists into postnatal life, which is associa ted with growth restriction of the cerebral cortex. However, this prenatal ethanol exposure regimen, including the BGS, does not increase spontaneous locomotor activity in contrast to the persistent hyperactivity that occurs after chronic ethanol exposure throughout gestation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie nce Inc. All rights reserved.