A Golgi study of mouse hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons following perinatal ethanol exposure

Golgi-impregnated hippocampal pyramidal cells were examined in 14-day-old mice following perinatal exposure to ethanol. The alcoholic insult was timed to coincide with the birth and initial stage of dendrite elaboration and was produced by dietary administration of ethanol to maternal mice during late pregnancy and the first postpartum week. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of Golgi-impregnated cells revealed a marked reduction in the extent of basilar dendrites in ethanol-exposed animals which suggested a delay in neuronal development.