[Effects of ethanol on thyroid gland development]

Maternal ingestion of alcohol appears to cause a pattern of congenital anomalies with pre- and postnatal growth in the offspring. In order to study the possible implication of thyroid function in the effect of exposure to alcohol, we have studied structural alterations of this gland during early postnatal period (0-20 days) of the rats from alcohol-fed mother, which were given 15% ethanol as the only drinking solution daily one month before and during pregnancy and lactation. The results of the light-microscopic and stereological analysis clearly show that maternal ingestion of ethanol results in the stimulation off the thyroid gland of their pups. This was the most prominent in 20-day-old rats, what is substantiated by the much more irregular apical surface of the follicular cells, appearance numerous colloid droplets, significant increase both the volume density of follicular epithelium (p < 0.05) and interfollicular tissue (p < 0.001) and significant reduction in volume density of colloid (p < 0.001). These results suggest that maternal ethanol exposure disturbs the normal structure of the thyroid gland of their offspring what may, at least partly, mediate to alcohol-induced detrimental effect on growth and development in the fetus and neonate.