Prenatal ethanol exposure: pituitary-adrenal activity in pregnant dams and offspring

Pregnant Sprague-Dawley females were assigned to one of three treatments: liquid diet with ethanol (5.5% w/v), ad lib; liquid control diet, pair-fed to alcohol group; pelleted control diet, ad lib. On day 19 of gestation females consuming ethanol exhibited greater corticoid elevations than controls at 30 min following stress. Pair-fed females were similar to controls at 30 min, but did not exhibit the return toward basal levels shown by both ethanol and control females at 90 min following stress. Thus ethanol consumption during pregnancy produced an enhanced stress response, while pair-feeding during pregnancy produced prolonged corticoid activation following stress. In offspring tested at 39 days of age, no sex differences occurred in the plasma corticoid stress response of nonhandled animals from any of the 3 diet groups. However in handled animals, it was observed that females prenatally exposed to ethanol exhibited higher corticosterone levels than alcohol-exposed males. Thus prenatal dietary treatment appeared to interact with postnatal handling experience to influence the development of the pituitary-adrenal system.