Acute paternal alcohol exposure impairs fertility and fetal outcome.
An acute injection of an intoxicating dose of alcohol to male rats 24 hours prior to breeding with drug-naive females produced no discernible effect on copulatory activity, as reflected in vaginal plugs, but resulted in markedly (> 50%) reduced pregnancy rates. Fetal outcome was also markedly affected in offspring sired by alcohol-treated males: litter sizes were appreciably smaller (30%) and fetal mortality was more than 2 times higher than in controls. These results suggest that paternal alcohol use, like maternal alcohol abuse, may adversely affect fertility and fetal outcome.
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
T J
TJ
Cicero
B
B
Nock
L H
LH
O'Connor
B N
BN
Sewing
M L
ML
Adams
E R
ER
Meyer
D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects*; D008098:Litter Size; D008297:Male; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D051381:Rats
D000431:Ethanol