Prenatal alcohol exposure shortens life span in rats

In a study of the effects of in utero alcohol exposure on life span in rats, pregnant rats were intubated twice daily with 3.5 gm/kg alcohol on gestational days 11-21 or with an isocaloric sucrose solution. These latter animals were pair-fed and pair-watered to alcohol-treated animals. A third group served as nontreated ad lib-fed controls. At birth, all offspring were removed from their biological mothers, culled to eight per litter, and placed with nontreated surrogate dams. Alcohol-exposed animals died at a significantly younger age than pair-fed and ad lib controls and never attained the same maximum body weights as control animals. For females prenatally exposed to alcohol, life span was shortened by about 20 weeks; in male cohorts, life span was shortened by about 2.5-7 weeks.