Effects of chronic alcohol exposure on offspring activity in rats

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the postnatal effects of long-term chronic exposure to ethanol in a treatment that has been shown to alter fetal viability and protein synthesis. Two groups of dams were included. One group (n = 7) received alcohol (6% w/v) in a liquid diet (Bio-Serve) prior to mating as well as throughout pregnancy. Another group consumed the same volume of the diet (isocalorically-matched, maltose-dextrines substituted for the alcohol) for the same time period. The ethanol treatment significantly reduced offspring body weights and increased offspring mortality. At adulthood, the treated offspring ambulated more than the non-treated offspring in an open field and made a higher number of entrances into a shocked area between trials on the first day of testing in an active-avoidance Y-maze task. These behavioral results are consistent with findings of increased open field activity and impaired ability to inhibit responding reported by other investigators in rats after prenatal alcohol administration.