Low dose prenatal alcohol exposure does not impair spatial learning and memory in two tests in adult and aged rats

Exploring behavioral phenotypes in a mouse model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are one of the leading causes of developmental abnormalities worldwide. Maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy leads to a diverse range of cognitive and neurobehavioral deficits. Although moderate-to-heavy levels of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have been associated with adverse offspring outcomes, there is limited data on the consequences of chronic low-level PAE. Here, we use a model of maternal voluntary alcohol consumption throughout gestation in a mouse model to investigate the effects of PAE on behavioral phenotypes during late adolescence and early adulthood in male and female offspring. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Baseline behaviors, including feeding, drinking, and movement, were examined by performing home cage monitoring studies. The impact of PAE on motor function, motor skill learning, hyperactivity, acoustic reactivity, and sensorimotor gating was investigated by performing a battery of behavioral tests. PAE was found to be associated with altered body composition. No differences in overall movement, food, or water consumption were observed between control and PAE mice. Although PAE offspring of both sexes exhibited deficits in motor skill learning, no differences were observed in basic motor skills such as grip strength and motor coordination. PAE females exhibited a hyperactive phenotype in a novel environment. PAE mice exhibited increased reactivity to acoustic stimuli, and PAE females showed disrupted short-term habituation. Sensorimotor gating was not altered in PAE mice. Collectively, our data show that chronic low-level exposure to alcohol in utero results in behavioral impairments.

Sensory Motor Function Disturbances in Mice Prenatally Exposed to Low Dose of Ethanol: A Neurobehavioral Study in Postnatal and Adult Stages

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) refers to fetal exposure to alcohol during pregnancy through placental barrier transfer from maternal blood. The postnatal outcomes of PAE differ among exposed individuals and range from overt (serious) alcohol-related behavioral and neurophysiological impairments to covert (silenced) symptoms. The aims of the present investigation were to assess the postnatal neurobehavioral disturbances, particularly, motor coordination and sensory-motor function in mice with PAE. Female mice with positive vaginal plugs were divided into three groups: group 1: Et + Pyr: received two i.p injections of ethanol (1 g/kg) followed by pyrazole (100 mg/kg). Group 2: Pyr: received an i.p injection of pyrazole (100 mg/kg). Group 3: C: of saline controls received, in equal volume, saline solution (NaCl 0.9%). After birth, mice pups were weighed and subjected to behavioral tests for motor function screening using the motor ambulation test, cliff aversion, surface righting, and negative geotaxis, while at the adult stage, mice were subjected to the open field, rotarod, parallel bars, and static rods tests. Our data show an obvious decrement of body weight from the first post-natal day (P1) and continues over the adult stage. This was accompanied by an obvious impaired sensory-motor function which was maintained even at the adult stage with alteration of the locomotor and coordination abilities. The current data demonstrate the powerful neurotoxic effect of prenatal ethanol exposure on the sensory-motor and coordination functions, leading to suppose possible structural and/or functional neuronal disturbances, particularly the locomotor network.

Sexually dimorphic organization of open field behavior following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure

BACKGROUND

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can produce deficits in a wide range of cognitive functions but is especially detrimental to behaviors requiring accurate spatial information processing. In open field environments, spatial behavior is organized such that animals establish "home bases" marked by long stops focused around one location. Progressions away from the home base are circuitous and slow, while progressions directed toward the home base are non-circuitous and fast. The impact of PAE on the organization of open field behavior has not been experimentally investigated.

METHODS

In the present study, adult female and male rats with moderate PAE or saccharin exposure locomoted a circular high walled open field for 30 minutes under lighted conditions.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that PAE and sex influence the organization of open field behavior. Consistent with previous literature, PAE rats exhibited greater locomotion in the open field. Novel findings from the current study indicate that PAE and sex also impact open field measures specific to spatial orientation. While all rats established a home base on the periphery of the open field, PAE rats, particularly males, exhibited significantly less clustered home base stopping with smaller changes in heading between stops. PAE also impaired progression measures specific to distance estimation, while sex alone impacted progression measures specific to direction estimation.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support the conclusion that adult male rats have an increased susceptibility to the effects of PAE on the organization of open field behavior.

Prenatal Radiation Exposure Leads to Higher-Order Telencephalic Dysfunctions in Adult Mice That Coincide with Reduced Synaptic Plasticity and Cerebral Hypersynchrony

Higher-order telencephalic circuitry has been suggested to be especially vulnerable to irradiation or other developmentally toxic impact. This report details the adult effects of prenatal irradiation at a sensitive time point on clinically relevant brain functions controlled by telencephalic regions, hippocampus (HPC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Pregnant C57Bl6/J mice were whole-body irradiated at embryonic day 11 (start of neurogenesis) with X-ray intensities of 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0 Gy. Female offspring completed a broad test battery of HPC-/PFC-controlled tasks that included cognitive performance, fear extinction, exploratory, and depression-like behaviors. We examined neural functions that are mechanistically related to these behavioral and cognitive changes, such as hippocampal field potentials and long-term potentiation, functional brain connectivity (by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging), and expression of HPC vesicular neurotransmitter transporters (by immunohistochemical quantification). Prenatally exposed mice displayed several higher-order dysfunctions, such as decreased nychthemeral activity, working memory defects, delayed extinction of threat-evoked response suppression as well as indications of perseverative behavior. Electrophysiological examination indicated impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Prenatal irradiation also induced cerebral hypersynchrony and increased the number of glutamatergic HPC terminals. These changes in brain connectivity and plasticity could mechanistically underlie the irradiation-induced defects in higher telencephalic functions.

Detection of prenatal alcohol exposure using machine learning classification of resting-state functional network connectivity data

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), a wide range of physical and neurobehavioral abnormalities associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), is recognized as a significant public health concern. Advancements in the diagnosis of FASD have been hindered by a lack of consensus in diagnostic criteria and limited use of objective biomarkers. Previous research from our group utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure functional network connectivity (FNC), which revealed several sex- and region-dependent alterations in FNC as a result of moderate PAE relative to controls. Considering that FNC is sensitive to moderate PAE, this study explored the use of FNC data and machine learning methods to detect PAE among a sample of rodents exposed to alcohol prenatally and controls. We utilized previously acquired resting state fMRI data collected from adult rats exposed to moderate levels of prenatal alcohol (PAE) or a saccharin control solution (SAC) to assess FNC of resting state networks extracted by spatial group independent component analysis (GICA). FNC data were subjected to binary classification using support vector machine (SVM) -based algorithms and leave-one-out-cross validation (LOOCV) in an aggregated sample of males and females (n = 48; 12 male PAE, 12 female PAE, 12 male SAC, 12 female SAC), a males-only sample (n = 24; 12 PAE, 12 SAC), and a females-only sample (n = 24; 12 PAE, 12 SAC). Results revealed that a quadratic SVM (QSVM) kernel was significantly effective for PAE detection in females. QSVM kernel-based classification resulted in accuracy rates of 62.5% for all animals, 58.3% for males, and 79.2% for females. Additionally, qualitative evaluation of QSVM weights implicates an overarching theme of several hippocampal and cortical networks in contributing to the formation of correct classification decisions by QSVM. Our results suggest that binary classification using QSVM and adult female FNC data is a potential candidate for the translational development of novel and non-invasive techniques for the identification of FASD.

Protective effect of alpha-lipoic acid on bisphenol A-induced learning and memory impairment in developing mice: nNOS and keap1/Nrf2 pathway

The adverse effects of bisphenol A (BPA) on learning and memory may be related with oxidative stress, but the mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of damaged learning and memory caused by BPA through inducing oxidative stress, as well as to explore whether alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) show a protective action. Female mice were exposed to 0.1 μg/mL BPA, 0.2 μg/mL BPA, 0.6 mg/mL ALA, and 0.2 BPA + ALA through drinking water for 8 weeks. The results showed that ALA protected against the impairment of spatial, recognition, and avoidance memory caused by BPA. ALA replenished the reduce of hippocampus coefficient, serum estradiol (E2) level, and hippocampal neurotransmitters levels induced by BPA. ALA alleviated BPA-induced oxidative stress and hippocampal histological changes. BPA exposure reduced the levels of synaptic structural proteins and PKC/ERK/CREB pathway proteins, and ALA improved these reductions. ALA altered the protein levels of nNOS and keap1/Nrf2 pathway affected by BPA. Our results suggested that impairments of learning and memory caused by BPA was related to the damage of hippocampal synapses mediated by oxidative stress, and ALA protected learning and memory by reducing the oxidative stress induced by BPA through regulating the nNOS and keap1/Nrf2 pathway.

Chronic Cyanuric Acid Exposure Depresses Hippocampal LTP but Does Not Disrupt Spatial Learning or Memory in the Morris Water Maze

Exposure to cyanuric acid (CA) causes multiple organ failure accompanied by the involvement in kinds of target proteins, which are detectable and play central roles in the CNS. The hippocampus has been identified as a brain area which was especially vulnerable in developmental condition associated with cognitive dysfunction. No studies have examined the effects of CA on hippocampal function after in vitro or in vivo treatment. Here, we aimed to examine hippocampal synaptic function and adverse behavioral effects using a rat model administered CA intraperitoneally or intrahippocampally. We found that infusion of CA induced a depression in the frequency but not the amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs), miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), or N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) of the CA1 neurons in dose-dependent pattern. Both intraperitoneal and intrahippocampal injections of CA suppressed hippocampal LTP from Schaffer collaterals to CA1 regions. Paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), a presynaptic phenomenon, was enhanced while the total and phosphorylated expression of NMDA-GluN1, NMDA-GluN2A, and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-GluA1 subunits were comparable between CA-treated and control groups. In Morris water maze test, both groups could effectively learn and retain spatial memory. Our studies provide the first evidence for the neurotoxic effect of CA and the insight into its potential mechanisms.

Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure alters the number and function of GABAergic interneurons in the murine orbitofrontal cortex

Exposure to alcohol during development produces Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), characterized by a wide range of effects that include deficits in multiple cognitive domains. Early identification and treatment of individuals with FASD remain a challenge because neurobehavioral alterations do not become a significant problem until late childhood and early adolescence. Understanding the mechanisms underlying low and moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) effects on behavior and cognition is essential for improved diagnosis and treatment. Here, we examined the functional and morphological changes in an area known to be involved in executive control, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). We found that a moderate PAE model, previously shown to impair behavioral flexibility and to alter OFC activity in vivo, produced moderate functional and morphological changes within the OFC of mice in vitro. Specifically, slice electrophysiological recordings of spontaneous inhibitory post-synaptic currents in OFC pyramidal neurons revealed a significant increase in the amplitude and area in PAE mice relative to controls. Immunohistochemistry uncovered an increase in calretinin-, but not somatostatin- or parvalbumin-expressing cortical interneurons in the OFC of PAE mice. Together, these data suggest that moderate prenatal alcohol exposure alters the disinhibitory function in the OFC, which may contribute to the executive function deficits associated with FASD.

Environmental Enrichment During Adolescence Mitigates Cognitive Deficits and Alcohol Vulnerability due to Continuous and Intermittent Perinatal Alcohol Exposure in Adult Rats

Perinatal alcohol exposure affects ontogenic neurodevelopment, causing physical and functional long-term abnormalities with limited treatment options. This study investigated long-term consequences of continuous and intermittent maternal alcohol drinking on behavioral readouts of cognitive function and alcohol vulnerability in the offspring. The effects of environmental enrichment (EE) during adolescence were also evaluated. Female rats underwent continuous alcohol drinking (CAD)—or intermittent alcohol drinking paradigm (IAD), along pregestation, gestation, and lactation periods—equivalent to the whole gestational period in humans. Male offspring were reared in standard conditions or EE until adulthood and were then assessed for declarative memory in the novel object recognition test; spatial learning, cognitive flexibility, and reference memory in the Morris water maze (MWM); alcohol consumption and relapse by a two-bottle choice paradigm. Our data show that perinatal CAD decreased locomotor activity, exploratory behavior, and declarative memory with respect to controls, whereas perinatal IAD displayed impaired declarative memory and spatial learning and memory. Moreover, both perinatal alcohol-exposed offspring showed higher vulnerability to alcohol consummatory behavior than controls, albeit perinatal IAD rats showed a greater alcohol consumption and relapse behavior with respect to perinatal-CAD progeny. EE ameliorated declarative memory in perinatal CAD, while it mitigated spatial learning and reference memory impairment in perinatal-IAD progeny. In addition, EE decreased vulnerability to alcohol in both control and perinatal alcohol-exposed rats. Maternal alcohol consumption produces drinking pattern-related long-term consequences on cognition and vulnerability to alcohol in the offspring. However, increased positive environmental stimuli during adolescence may curtail the detrimental effects of developmental alcohol exposure.

Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Impairs Visual-Spatial Discrimination in a Sex-Specific Manner: Effects of Testing Order and Difficulty on Learning Performance

BACKGROUND

Exposure to high levels of alcohol during development leads to alterations in neurogenesis and deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning. Evidence suggests that even more moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy can have negative impacts on the cognitive function of offspring. Methods for assessing impairments differ greatly across species, complicating translation of preclinical findings into potential therapeutics. We have demonstrated the utility of a touchscreen operant measure for assessing hippocampal function in mice.

METHODS

Here, we integrated a well-established "drinking-in-the-dark" exposure model that produces reliable, but more moderate, levels of maternal intoxication with a trial-unique, delayed nonmatching-to-location (TUNL) task to examine the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on hippocampal-sensitive behavior directly analogous to those used in clinical assessment. PAE and SAC offspring mice were trained to touch a single visual stimulus ("sample phase") in one of 10 possible spatial locations (2 × 5 grid) in a touchscreen operant system. After a delay, animals were simultaneously presented with the original stimulus and a rewarded stimulus in a novel location ("choice phase"). PAE and saccharin (SAC) control mice were trained on a series of problems that systematically increased the difficulty by decreasing the separation between the sample and choice stimuli. Next, a separate cohort of PAE and SAC animals were given a brief training and then tested on a challenging variant where both the separation and delay varied with each trial.

RESULTS

We found that PAE mice were generally able to perform at levels similar to SAC control mice at progressively more difficult separations. When tested on the most difficult unpredictable variant immediately, PAE showed a sex-specific deficit with PAE females performing worse during long delays.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, these data demonstrate the utility of the TUNL task for examining PAE related alterations in hippocampal function and underline the need to examine sex-by-treatment interactions in these models.

The effects of developmental alcohol exposure on the neurobiology of spatial processing

The consumption of alcohol during gestation is detrimental to the developing central nervous system. One functional outcome of this exposure is impaired spatial processing, defined as sensing and integrating information pertaining to spatial navigation and spatial memory. The hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and anterior thalamus are brain regions implicated in spatial processing and are highly susceptible to the effects of developmental alcohol exposure. Some of the observed effects of alcohol on spatial processing may be attributed to changes at the synaptic to circuit level. In this review, we first describe the impact of developmental alcohol exposure on spatial behavior followed by a summary of the development of brain areas involved in spatial processing. We then provide an examination of the consequences of prenatal and early postnatal alcohol exposure in rodents on hippocampal, anterior thalamus, and entorhinal cortex-dependent spatial processing from the cellular to behavioral level. We conclude by highlighting several unanswered questions which may provide a framework for future investigation.

Hyperlocomotion and anxiety- like behavior induced by binge ethanol exposure in rat neonates. Possible ameliorative effects of Omega 3

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy may cause neurocognitive and behavioral disorders that can persist until adulthood. Epidemiological data has revealed an alarming increase in the frequency of alcohol intake in pregnant women. Nutritional variables may also have an impact on the behavioral alterations occasioned by alcohol during development. Moreover, omega-3, a polyunsaturated fatty acid necessary for normal brain development, is deficient in ethanol-treated animals. Although studies have shown that omega-3 supplementation after prenatal ethanol (EtOH) treatment improves some disorders, there are no reports about acute treatment with omega-3 in binge alcohol neurotoxic models during postnatal development. The goal of this study was to determine whether an administration of omega-3, after an acute ethanol dose in neonates, would be able to attenuate alcohol effects in offspring. Male/ female rats were administered ethanol (2.5 g/kg s.c. at 0 and 2 h) or saline on postnatal day (PND) 7, with a single dose of omega-3 (720 mg/kg) 15 min after the last alcohol injection. It was have found that EtOH-treated animals showed hyperlocomotion on PND 14 (pre-juvenile), and anxiety-like behavior was observed at all the three ages studied. Administration of omega-3 after EtOH treatment reduced hyperlocomotion and the anxiety-like behaviors on PND 14, but did not diminish the anxiety on either PND 20 or 30 (juvenile). In conclusion, acute ethanol exposure produced neurobehavioral alterations that persisted in the offspring, with omega-3 able to ameliorate these effects on PND 14. These data are relevant considering that omega-3 administration may have therapeutic effects through mitigating some of ethanol´s damaging consequences.

Periconceptional maternal alcohol consumption leads to behavioural changes in adult and aged offspring and alters the expression of hippocampal genes associated with learning and memory and regulators of the epigenome

Maternal alcohol consumption throughout pregnancy can result in long term behavioural deficits in offspring. However, less is known about the impact of alcohol during the periconceptional period (PC). The aim of this study was to examine the effect of PC ethanol (PC:EtOH) exposure on long term cognitive function; including memory and anxiety. Rats were exposed to a liquid diet containing ethanol (EtOH) (12.5% vol;vol) or a control diet from 4 days prior to mating until day 4 of pregnancy. Separate cohorts of animals were tested at 6 months (adult) or 15-18 months of age (aged). Offspring underwent a series of behavioural tests to assess anxiety, spatial and recognition memory. The hippocampus was collected, and mRNA expression of epigenetic modifiers and genes implicated in learning and memory were examined. PC:EtOH exposure resulted in a subtle anxiety like behaviour in adult female offspring with a significant reduction in directed exploring/head dipping behaviour during holeboard testing. In aged male offspring, PC:EtOH exposure resulted in a tendency for increased directed exploring/head dipping behaviour during holeboard testing. No differences between treatments were observed in the elevated plus maze. Aged female offspring exposed to PC:EtOH demonstrated short term spatial memory impairment (P < 0.05). PC:EtOH resulted in an upregulation of hippocampal mRNA expression of bdnf, grin2a and grin2b at 18 months of age along with increased expression of epigenetic modifiers (dnmt1, dnmt3a and hdac2). In conclusion, PC:EtOH can lead to sex specific anxiety-like behaviour and impairments in spatial memory and altered hippocampal gene expression.

Effects of sex and housing on social, spatial, and motor behavior in adult rats exposed to moderate levels of alcohol during prenatal development

Persistent deficits in social behavior, motor behavior, and behavioral flexibility are among the major negative consequences associated with exposure to ethanol during prenatal development. Prior work from our laboratory has linked moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in the rat to deficits in these behavioral domains, which depend upon the ventrolateral frontal cortex (Hamilton et al., 2014) [20]. Manipulations of the social environment cause modifications of dendritic morphology and experience-dependent immediate early gene expression in ventrolateral frontal cortex (Hamilton et al., 2010) [19], and may yield positive behavioral outcomes following PAE. In the present study we evaluated the effects of housing PAE rats with non-exposed control rats on adult behavior. Rats of both sexes were either paired with a partner from the same prenatal treatment condition (ethanol or saccharin) or from the opposite condition (mixed housing condition). At four months of age (∼3 months after the housing manipulation commenced), social behavior, tongue protrusion, and behavioral flexibility in the Morris water task were measured as in (Hamilton et al., 2014) [20]. The behavioral effects of moderate PAE were primarily limited to males and were not ameliorated by housing with a non-ethanol exposed partner. Unexpectedly, social behavior, motor behavior, and spatial flexibility were adversely affected in control rats housed with a PAE rat (i.e., in mixed housing), indicating that housing with a PAE rat has broad behavioral consequences beyond the social domain. These observations provide further evidence that moderate PAE negatively affects social behavior, and underscore the importance of considering potential negative effects of housing with PAE animals on the behavior of critical comparison groups.

The Impact of Prenatal Ethanol Exposure on Neuroanatomical and Behavioral Development in Mice

BACKGROUND

In utero alcohol, or ethanol (EtOH), exposure produces developmental abnormalities in the brain of the fetus, which can result in lifelong behavioral abnormalities. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is a term used to describe a range of adverse developmental conditions caused by EtOH exposure during gestation. Children diagnosed with FASD potentially exhibit a host of phenotypes including growth retardation, facial dysmorphology, central nervous system anomalies, abnormal behavior, and cognitive deficits. Previous research suggests that abnormal gene expression and circuitry in the neocortex may underlie reported disabilities of learning, memory, and behavior resulting from early exposure to alcohol (J Neurosci, 33, 2013, 18893).

METHODS

Here, we utilize a mouse model of FASD to examine effects of prenatal EtOH exposure (PrEE), on brain anatomy in newborn (postnatal day [P]0), weanling (P20), and early adult (P50) mice. We correlate abnormal cortical and subcortical anatomy with atypical behavior in adult P50 PrEE mice. In this model, experimental dams self-administered a 25% EtOH solution throughout gestation (gestational days 0 to 19, day of birth), generating the exposure to the offspring.

RESULTS

Results from these experiments reveal long-term alterations to cortical anatomy, including atypical developmental cortical thinning, and abnormal subcortical development as a result of in utero EtOH exposure. Furthermore, offspring exposed to EtOH during the prenatal period performed poorly on behavioral tasks measuring sensorimotor integration and anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

Insight from this study will help provide new information on developmental trajectories of PrEE and the biological etiologies of abnormal behavior in people diagnosed with FASD.

A review of fundamental principles for animal models of DOHaD research: an Australian perspective

Epidemiology formed the basis of ‘the Barker hypothesis’, the concept of ‘developmental programming’ and today’s discipline of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Animal experimentation provided proof of the underlying concepts, and continues to generate knowledge of underlying mechanisms. Interventions in humans, based on DOHaD principles, will be informed by experiments in animals. As knowledge in this discipline has accumulated, from studies of humans and other animals, the complexity of interactions between genome, environment and epigenetics, has been revealed. The vast nature of programming stimuli and breadth of effects is becoming known. As a result of our accumulating knowledge we now appreciate the impact of many variables that contribute to programmed outcomes. To guide further animal research in this field, the Australia and New Zealand DOHaD society (ANZ DOHaD) Animals Models of DOHaD Research Working Group convened at the 2nd Annual ANZ DOHaD Congress in Melbourne, Australia in April 2015. This review summarizes the contributions of animal research to the understanding of DOHaD, and makes recommendations for the design and conduct of animal experiments to maximize relevance, reproducibility and translation of knowledge into improving health and well-being.

The impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on social, cognitive and affective behavioral domains: Insights from rodent models

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are characterized by deficits in working memory, response inhibition, and behavioral flexibility. However, the combination and severity of impairments are highly dependent upon maternal ethanol consumption patterns, which creates a complex variety of manifestations. Rodent models have been essential in identifying behavioral endpoints of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). However, experimental model outcomes are extremely diverse based on level, pattern, timing, and method of ethanol exposure, as well as the behavioral domain assayed and paradigm used. Therefore, comparisons across studies are difficult and there is currently no clear comprehensive behavioral phenotype of PAE. This lack of defined cognitive and behavioral phenotype is a contributing factor to the difficulty in identifying FASD individuals. The current review aims to critically examine preclinical behavioral outcomes in the social, cognitive, and affective domains in terms of the PAE paradigm, with a special emphasis on dose, timing, and delivery, to establish a working model of behavioral impairment. In addition, this review identifies gaps in our current knowledge and proposes future areas of research that will advance knowledge in the field of PAE outcomes. Understanding the complex behavioral phenotype, which results from diverse ethanol consumption will allow for development of better diagnostic tools and more critical evaluation of potential treatments for FASD.

Impaired ILK Function Is Associated with Deficits in Hippocampal Based Memory and Synaptic Plasticity in a FASD Rat Model

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of anatomical and behavioral problems in children who are exposed to alcohol during the prenatal period. There is no effective treatment for FASD, because of lack of complete characterization of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this condition. Alcohol has been previously characterized to affect integrins and growth factor signaling receptors. Integrin Linked Kinase (ILK) is an effector of integrin and growth-factor signaling which regulates various signaling processes. In FASD, a downstream effector of ILK, Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β (GSK3β) remains highly active (reduced Ser9 phosphorylation). GSK3β has been known to modulate glutamate receptor trafficking and channel properties. Therefore, we hypothesize that the cognitive deficits accompanying FASD are associated with impairments in the ILK signaling pathway. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats consumed a "moderate" amount of alcohol throughout gestation, or a calorie-equivalent sucrose solution. Contextual fear conditioning was used to evaluate memory performance in 32-33-day-old pups. Synaptic plasticity was assessed in the Schaffer Collateral pathway, and hippocampal protein lysates were used to evaluate ILK signaling. Alcohol exposed pups showed impaired contextual fear conditioning, as compared to control pups. This reduced memory performance was consistent with decrease in LTP as compared to controls. Hippocampal ILK activity and GSK3β Ser21/9 phosphorylation were significantly lower in alcohol-exposed pups than controls. Increased synaptic expression of GluR2 AMPA receptors was observed with immunoprecipitation of post-synaptic density protein 95 (PSD95). Furthermore, immunoprecipitation of ILK revealed a decreased interaction with GluR2. The ILK pathway appears to play a significant role in memory and synaptic plasticity impairments in FASD rats. These impairments appear to be mediated by reduced GSK3β regulation and increased synaptic stabilization of the calcium-impermeable GluR2 AMPA receptors.

Early maternal alcohol consumption alters hippocampal DNA methylation, gene expression and volume in a mouse model

The adverse effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are known, but the molecular events that lead to the phenotypic characteristics are unclear. To unravel the molecular mechanisms, we have used a mouse model of gestational ethanol exposure, which is based on maternal ad libitum ingestion of 10% (v/v) ethanol for the first 8 days of gestation (GD 0.5-8.5). Early neurulation takes place by the end of this period, which is equivalent to the developmental stage early in the fourth week post-fertilization in human. During this exposure period, dynamic epigenetic reprogramming takes place and the embryo is vulnerable to the effects of environmental factors. Thus, we hypothesize that early ethanol exposure disrupts the epigenetic reprogramming of the embryo, which leads to alterations in gene regulation and life-long changes in brain structure and function. Genome-wide analysis of gene expression in the mouse hippocampus revealed altered expression of 23 genes and three miRNAs in ethanol-exposed, adolescent offspring at postnatal day (P) 28. We confirmed this result by using two other tissues, where three candidate genes are known to express actively. Interestingly, we found a similar trend of upregulated gene expression in bone marrow and main olfactory epithelium. In addition, we observed altered DNA methylation in the CpG islands upstream of the candidate genes in the hippocampus. Our MRI study revealed asymmetry of brain structures in ethanol-exposed adult offspring (P60): we detected ethanol-induced enlargement of the left hippocampus and decreased volume of the left olfactory bulb. Our study indicates that ethanol exposure in early gestation can cause changes in DNA methylation, gene expression, and brain structure of offspring. Furthermore, the results support our hypothesis of early epigenetic origin of alcohol-induced disorders: changes in gene regulation may have already taken place in embryonic stem cells and therefore can be seen in different tissue types later in life.