title: Craniofacial alterations in adult rats prenatally exposed to ethanol.
abstract: The rat was studied to determine whether gestational exposure to moderate amounts of ethanol produces permanent craniofacial malformations. Pregnant Long-Evans rats were fed a liquid diet containing 35% ethanol-derived calories or an isocaloric liquid diet between gestation days 6 and 20. Various dimensions of skulls and mandibles from adult male offspring were measured. All measurements taken in the parasagittal and coronal planes were significantly smaller in the ethanol-exposed rats than in the offspring of pair-fed controls. None of the vertical measurements was significantly altered. This report demonstrates that gestational exposure to ethanol in rats, at doses which produce lasting behavioral effects, also produces a specific constellation of craniofacial dysmorphisms without concomitant decreases in body weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, New York University College of Dentistry, New York 10010.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Dow-Edwards
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000002:abnormalities*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000473:pathology; D008334:Mandible / Q000002:abnormalities; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D012016:Reference Values; D012886:Skull / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013723:Teratogens / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D013723:Teratogens; D000431:Ethanol