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Effects of Ethanol Exposure during the Third Trimester Equivalent on Neuron Number in Rat Hippocampus and Dentate Gyrus
Author(s) -
West James R.,
Hamre Kristin M.,
Cassell Martin D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1986.tb05070.x
Subject(s) - dentate gyrus , hippocampal formation , ethanol , neuron , hippocampus , endocrinology , population , medicine , chemistry , body weight , biology , neuroscience , biochemistry , environmental health
An artificial rearing procedure was used to expose neonatal rats to a formula containing 3.74% ethanol during postnatal days 4 through 10. This treatment produced a mean blood ethanol concentration of 379.8 ± 17.3 mg/dl. When the pups were kitted on the afternoon of postnatal day 10, brain weight to body weight ratio in the ethanol‐exposed rats was reduced 22.4% and 21.5% compared to suckle and pair‐fed controls, respectively. Ethanol exposure also resulted in a 16% reduction of neurons in hippocampal field CA4, compared to controls, but did not produce deficits in fields CA1 or CAS. There was also a 10% increase in the number of neurons (a population of ceto in the midst of a proliferative phase at the time of the exposure) in the granule cefl layer of the dentate gyrus. The ethanol exposure did not affect ceN size in any of the four neuron populations measured. These results suggest, that within the dose and timing parameters examined, ethanol exposure during the third trimester equivalent appears to be preferentially harmful to specific populations of developing neurons.