title: Effects of maternal ethanol consumption in rats on basal and rhythmic pituitary-adrenal function in neonatal offspring.
abstract: Neonatal corticoid treatment delays development of the circadian rhythm of plasma corticosterone in rats. We therefore sought to determine whether fetal or neonatal exposure to ethanol, a substance which activates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, produces similar effects. Subjects were the offspring of dams fed a 5.0% w/v ethanol-containing liquid diet or pair-fed an isocaloric control diet during gestation weeks two and three or during postnatal week one. At birth (day 1), the fetal ethanol-exposed pups had significantly higher brain and plasma corticosterone levels than the pair-fed or normal controls; brain and body weights were unaffected. By day 3, brain and plasma corticosterone titers in the fetal ethanol-exposed pups declined to the levels of the pair-fed and normal controls, although brain weights were significantly reduced. Significantly higher p.m. than a.m. levels of plasma corticosterone first occurred on day 18 both in the fetal ethanol-exposed pups and in the pair-fed and normal controls. Thus, despite its causing elevated corticosterone levels at birth, fetal exposure to ethanol did not affect the onset of the pituitary-adrenal circadian rhythm. On the other hand, exposure to ethanol during the first neonatal week delayed the onset of the pituitary-adrenal rhythm from day 18 to day 21. However, even greater delays occurred in the neonatal pair-fed controls, suggesting that the delays following neonatal exposure were due to nutritional deficits rather than to alcohol per se. The developmental and long-term influences of elevated corticoid levels at birth in fetal ethanol-exposed rats on other aspects of pituitary-adrenal function remain to be determined.
mesh_terms: D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000196:embryology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000196:embryology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D003345:Corticosterone