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Updated: Jan 29, 2026
Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Quantification of Social Behavior in Adult Rats
Published on: December 14, 2014
Prenatal alcohol exposure and facial morphology in a UK cohort
Laurence J Howe1, Gemma C Sharp2, Gibran Hemani3
1MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, University of Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK; Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London, UK.
Background:
High levels of prenatal alcohol exposure are known to cause an array of adverse outcomes including fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS); however, the effects of low to moderate exposure are less-well characterized. Previous findings suggest that differences in normal-range facial morphology may be a marker for alcohol exposure and related adverse effects.
Methods:
In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we tested for an association between maternal alcohol consumption and six FAS-related facial phenotypes in their offspring, using both self-report questionnaires and the maternal genotype at rs1229984 in ADH1B as measures of maternal alcohol consumption.
Results:
In both self-reported alcohol consumption (N = 4233) and rs1229984 genotype (N = 3139) analyses, we found no strong statistical evidence for an association between maternal alcohol consumption and facial phenotypes tested. The directions of effect estimates were compatible with the known effects of heavy alcohol exposure, but confidence intervals were largely centered around zero.
Conclusions:
There is no strong evidence, in a sample representative of the general population, for an effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on normal-range variation in facial morphology.
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