An experimental study of fetal alcohol syndrome in the rat: biochemical modifications in brain and liver

Maternal alcohol consumption produces various abnormalities in the offspring, termed fetal alcohol syndrome. We investigated various biochemical modifications occurring in the brain and the liver of pups born to alcohol-consuming rats. The parameters analysed were: superoxide dismutase, a protector against free radicals injury, enolase isoenzymes as markers of nerve cell maturation, glutamine synthetase involved in ammonia detoxification, alcohol and aldehyde deshydrogenases in order to evaluate the contribution of acetaldehyde teratogenicity and ATPase activities involved in ion and neurotransmitter transport. Activities of all these enzymes were decreased in the brain even when alcohol was withdrawn from the mother diet either during pregnancy or lactation. Activities were also decreased in the liver, except enolase and alcohol deshydrogenase activities, which were increased, suggesting possible adaptative events in the presence of alcohol. It seems likely that the multiple alterations observed in experimental fetal alcohol syndrome may be caused by free radicals following decreased superoxide dismutase activity in addition to the toxicity of alcohol and its metabolites.