Long-term effects of fetal ethanol exposure on pituitary-adrenal response to stress

Pregnant female rats were fed either a 5.0-5.5% w/v ethanol-containing liquid diet ad lib or pair-fed the isocaloric control diet during gestation weeks 2 and 3. At 75-105 days of age, female offspring of the ethanol-treated dams showed significantly greater corticosterone responses than pair-fed- or normally-derived offspring to the stress of cardiac puncture or of noise and shaking, while pituitary-adrenal responses to exposure to a novel environment, cold or 2-3 days of fasting were normal. Adrenal sensitivity to ACTH in dexamethasone-suppressed adult offspring was unaffected by the prenatal treatment. The results demonstrate that fetal ethanol exposure enhances adult pituitary-adrenal responses to certain stressors, including alcohol as demonstrated previously, and suggest that the long-term effects may be mediated by developmental actions of alcohol on central neural mechanisms involved in the regulation of this neuroendocrine system.