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Updated: Aug 31, 2026

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development
Published on: July 13, 2014
Prenatal exposure to alcohol alters the light response in postnatal circadian rhythm
Hiroyoshi Sei1, Hiromi Sakata-Haga, Kyoko Ohta
1Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Tokushima School of Medicine, 770-8503 Tokushima, Japan. sei@basic.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
We studied the effect of prenatal exposure to alcohol on later circadian rhythm in the rat. In the normal light-dark cycle, an 8-h phase advance brought forward the deep body temperature rhythm in control rats, although it had a smaller effect in prenatally ethanol-exposed rats. In long constant darkness, the phase response of the deep body temperature rhythm to a light pulse at the early subjective night was less marked in ethanol-exposed rats in comparison to controls. These results indicate that prenatal exposure to alcohol has a long-lasting effect on the light responsiveness of the deep body temperature circadian rhythm.

