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Updated: Nov 29, 2025

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development
Published on: July 13, 2014
Glutathione Protects the Developing Heart from Defects and Global DNA Hypomethylation Induced by Prenatal Alcohol
Safdar Jawaid1,2, James P Strainic1, Jun Kim1
1From the, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, (SJ, JPS, GHK, MMS, AC, CAG, MWJ, MW, SMF), Department of Pediatrics, The Congenital Heart Collaborative, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Background:
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is caused by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), the intake of ethanol (C2 H5 OH) during pregnancy. Features of FASD cover a range of structural and functional defects including congenital heart defects (CHDs). Folic acid and choline, contributors of methyl groups to one-carbon metabolism (OCM), prevent CHDs in humans. Using our avian model of FASD, we have previously reported that betaine, another methyl donor downstream of choline, prevents CHDs. The CHD preventions are substantial but incomplete. Ethanol causes oxidative stress as well as depleting methyl groups for OCM to support DNA methylation and other epigenetic alterations. To identify more compounds that can safely and effectively prevent CHDs and other effects of PAE, we tested glutathione (GSH), a compound that regulates OCM and is known as a "master antioxidant."
Methods/Results:
Quail embryos injected with a single dose of ethanol at gastrulation exhibited congenital defects including CHDs similar to those identified in FASD individuals. GSH injected simultaneously with ethanol not only prevented CHDs, but also improved survival and prevented other PAE-induced defects. Assays of hearts at 8 days (HH stage 34) of quail development, when the heart normally has developed 4-chambers, showed that this single dose of PAE reduced global DNA methylation. GSH supplementation concurrent with PAE normalized global DNA methylation levels. The same assays performed on quail hearts at 3 days (HH stage 19-20) of development, showed no difference in global DNA methylation between controls, ethanol-treated, GSH alone, and GSH plus ethanol-treated cohorts.
Conclusions:
GSH supplementation shows promise to inhibit effects of PAE by improving survival, reducing the incidence of morphological defects including CHDs, and preventing global hypomethylation of DNA in heart tissues.
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