Mitigating effects of combined prenatal and postnatal exposure to ethanol on learned persistence in the weanling rat: a replication under high-peak conditions.
Replicating an earlier report under low-peak blood ethanol concentration (BEC) conditions, weanling rats, exposed in utero or postnatally to levels of ethanol that resulted in high-peak BECs, showed an attenuated partial reinforcement extinction effect, whereas pups exposed both pre- and postnatally did not differ from controls. Also supporting earlier work, postnatal exposure resulted in significantly reduced brain weight and had effects on hippocampal measures. These results from the combined-exposure group, along with earlier work, point to a possible mitigating influence in the rat of prenatal exposure to ethanol on the behavioral effects of postnatal exposure. They suggest that a protective factor may be operating, akin to the proactive immunoreactive effects of heat shock proteins shown in recent work at the cellular and hippocampal levels.
Diaz-Granados
J L
JL
Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin 78712.
Greene
P L
PL
Amsel
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D014886:Weaning
D000431:Ethanol