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Effects of multiple-dose maternal ethanol infusion on fetal cardiovascular and brain activity in lambs
J Patrick1, L Carmichael, B Richardson
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Abstract:
Ethanol (2 gm/kg of maternal body weight administered in four equal doses of 0.5 gm/kg over 5 hours) was infused intravenously into nine chronically prepared pregnant ewes between 124 and 137 days' gestation. The data demonstrated a dose-response relationship between fetal arterial ethanol concentrations and the incidence of fetal breathing movements. Suppression of normal fetal electrocortical activity occurred at a low ethanol concentration and returned to control values at a time of very high arterial ethanol concentrations. This experimental model of a binge drinking episode further supports the hypothesis that ethanol suppresses fetal breathing movements by a direct central mechanism rather than indirectly by alteration of electrocortical activity.