Prenatal exposure to ethanol causes a delay in the developmental expression of neurofilament epitopes in cerebellum

The expression of nonphosphorylated neurofilaments (nPNFs) and phosphorylated neurofilaments (PNFs) was examined in cerebella during development of C57/Bl/6J mice prenatally exposed to ethanol. The length of nPNF immunoreactive portions of primary and secondary dendrites of Purkinje neurons was reduced during early postnatal developmental stages. This difference disappeared by 2 months of age. These results indicate a delay in the maturation of nPNFs in Purkinje neurons of ethanol-exposed mice. There also appeared to be some underdevelopment of basket cell axons in terms of PNF expression, during early postnatal stages, as compared to normal control litters. These findings may reflect a general delay in neuronal maturation after ethanol exposure. Prenatal exposure to ethanol may, therefore, have profound effects on developmental events occurring during early postnatal life. We could not, however, exclude the possibility that the disturbances in neurofilament expression were due to malnutrition in the alcohol-treated animals.