Alcoholic and nonalcoholic beer drinking during gestation: offspring growth and glucose metabolism

Female Long-Evans rats were allowed voluntary access to beer, food and water for 52 days prior to mating, throughout mating and throughout gestation, and were compared to animals pair-fed nonalcoholic beer and to regular controls. Alcoholic beer drinkers gained more weight during gestation than drinkers of nonalcoholic beer. Significant hypoglycemia was observed in the newborn male offspring of alcoholic beer drinkers. At 20 days of age, all animals responded normally to glucose tolerance tests. At 20 days of age, liver weights of offspring of beer drinkers (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) were enlarged; pancreas weights of alcoholic beer drinkers were increased. At 65 days of age, body weights of male offspring of alcoholic beer drinkers were low. These results indicate sex differences in response to maternal beer drinking, and suggest some of the observed alterations in development were due to components in beer other than alcohol.