Ethanol-induced late fetal death in mice exposed around the time of fertilization

In the mouse, all autosomal monosomies and trisomies are lethal by the time of birth (Searle, 1981). To test whether ethanol ingested by females shortly after mating induces nondisjunction, as reported by Kaufman (1983) on the basis of cytological evidence, we attempted to determine whether the incidence of intrauterine death was affected by this treatment. The incidence of late death (day 11 postconception or later) was found to be significantly increased when ethanol was administered 2 h following a 30-min mating period, but not when the interval was shorter. Measurements of early death were not sensitive enough (because of the high control frequency) to show an effect of ethanol treatment. Limited cytological data showed an induced incidence of trisomy in line with the excess frequency of late death, but the trisomy incidence by itself was not significantly different from control. The overall level of effect in the present experiment was lower than that reported by Kaufman.