title: High doses of alcohol during pregnancy cause DNA damages in osteoblasts of newborns rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol exerts teratogenic effects and its consumption during pregnancy can cause deficit of bone development. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the genotoxic effects of prenatal exposure to ethanol on newborn rat osteoblasts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wistar rats were initially divided into two groups: Ethanol group which received Ethanol 20% V/V in liquid diet and solid diet ad libitum, and Control group, which received solid diet and water ad libitum. Each group received a specific diet for 8 weeks before breeding and throughout three weeks of gestation and the treatment was finished on the day the pups were killed. On the fifth day of life, the pups from each group were killed for removal of the calvaria and isolation of osteogenic cells by sequential enzymatic digestion. The cells were cultured for a maximum period of 14 days. The detection of genotoxic effects of alcohol was investigated by the comet and the micronucleus assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Micronucleus and comet assay showed significant increases in DNA damage at 7 days in Ethanol group (p = 0.0302, p = 0.0446, respectively). However, at 14 days both assay showed no significant difference between the groups (p = 0.6194, p = 0.8326, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that prenatal exposure to ethanol induced DNA damage in osteoblasts, as shown by micronucleus formation and higher percentage of DNA in the comet tail. It can be concluded that prenatal exposure to ethanol damages osteoblast DNA in newborns exposed to high doses of ethanol during pregnancy, suggesting that prenatal ethanol consumption has a direct effect on fetal osteoblasts.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Technology, UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista, Sao Jose dos Campos (SP), Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Isabel Chaves Silva
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Technology, UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista, Sao Jose dos Campos (SP), Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tamires Pereira
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Dutra
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Development - IP&D, Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - UNIVAP, Laboratory Dynamics of Cellular Compartments, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dennia Perez De
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Technology, UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista, Sao Jose dos Campos (SP), Department of Social Science and Pediatric Dentristy, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Balducci
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Development - IP&D, Universidade do Vale do Paraíba - UNIVAP, Laboratory Dynamics of Cellular Compartments, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pacheco-Soares
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Technology, UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista, Sao Jose dos Campos (SP), Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosilene Fernandes da
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Rocha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001846:Bone Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective / Q000139:chemically induced; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000187:drug effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: comet assay; ethanol; genotoxicity; micronucleus assay; osteoblasts; pregnancy