Rescuing behavioral development after prenatal alcohol exposure in mice

Abstract

Due to the difficulty of detecting a pregnancy, prior to 6 weeks of gestation, ~30% of pregnant women report drinking alcohol during the first trimester. Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can be extremely dangerous for the development of a child, often leading to an increased risk of developing fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), which can affect a child’s ability to learn, control behavior, or regulate emotions. Alcohol initially stimulates an inflammatory cells in the central nervous system, known as microglia, causing a fetal anti- inflammatory response which alters the vascular and neurological in the fetal brain. Repeated or chronic alcohol exposure forces the microglia to remain in an inflammatory state that leads to the development of FASDs. Here, we present our preliminary investigation into the behavioral effects of PAE on mice exposed to ethanol during the first trimester of pregnancy. The behavioral impact of the PAE is evaluated using a series of three tests including: open field tests used to measure the activity levels; object recognition tests used to assess memory and recall; and social interaction tests to investigate preference of a differing social stimuli. This is the first step in the projects overall aim to use in-utero pharmacotherapy to inhibit the post-PAE chronically active microglia to prevent the development of FASDs