Abstract
Prenatal alcohol exposure often results in an array of fetal developmental abnormalities termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). Despite the high prevalence of FASDs, the pathophysiology of fetal damage by alcohol remains poorly understood. One of the major obstacles in studying fetal development in response to alcohol exposure is the inability to standardize the amount, pattern of alcohol consumption, and peak blood alcohol levels in pregnant mothers. In the present study, we used Doppler ultrasonography to assess fetal growth and cardiovascular parameters in response to alcohol exposure in pregnant baboons. Baboons were subjected to gastric alcohol infusion 3 times during the second trimester equivalent to human pregnancy, with maternal blood alcohol levels reaching 80 mg/dL within 30 to 60 minutes following alcohol infusion. The control group received a drink that was isocaloric to the alcohol-containing one. Doppler ultrasonography was used for longitudinal assessment of fetal biometric parameters and fetal cardiovascular indices. Fetal abdominal and head circumferences, but not femur length, were significantly decreased in alcohol-exposed fetuses near term. Peak systolic velocity of anterior and middle cerebral arteries decreased during episodes of alcohol intoxication, but there was no difference in Doppler indices between groups near term. Acute alcohol intoxication affected fetal cerebral blood flow independent of changes in the fetal cardiac output. Unlike fetal growth parameters, changes in vascular indices did not persist over gestation. In summary, alcohol effects on fetal growth and on fetal vascular function have different time courses.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
May PA, Gossage JP, Brooke LE, et al. Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol syndrome in the Western cape province of South Africa: a population-based study. Am J Public Health. 2005;95(7):1190–1199.
May PA, Gossage JP. Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: not as simple as it might seem. Alcohol Res Health. 2011;34(1):15–26.
Olivier L, Curfs LM, Viljoen DL. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: prevalence rates in South Africa. S Afr Med J. 2016;106(6 suppl 1):S103–S106.
Mattson SN, Schoenfeld AM, Riley EP. Teratogenic effects of alcohol on brain and behavior. Alcohol Res Health. 2001;25(3):185–191.
Gauthier TW. Prenatal alcohol exposure and the developing immune system. Alcohol Res. 2015;37(2):279–285.
Caputo C, Wood E, Jabbour L. Impact of fetal alcohol exposure on body systems: a systematic review. Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 2016;108(2):174–180.
Maier SE, West JR. Drinking patterns and alcohol-related birth defects. Alcohol Res Health. 2001;25(3):168–174.
West JR, Kelly SJ, Pierce DR. Severity of alcohol-induced deficits in rats during the third trimester equivalent is determined by the pattern of exposure. Alcohol Alcohol Suppl. 1987;1:461–465.
Viljoen DL, Gossage JP, Brooke L, et al. Fetal alcohol syndrome epidemiology in a South African community: a second study of a very high prevalence area. J Stud Alcohol. 2005;66(5):593–604.
Seleverstov O, Tobiasz A, Jackson JS, et al. Maternal alcohol exposure during mid-pregnancy dilates fetal cerebral arteries via endocannabinoid receptors. Alcohol. 2017;61:51–61.
Stewart CB, Disotell TR. Primate evolution—in and out of Africa. CurrBiol. 1998;8(16):R582–R588.
Pillay P, Manger PR. Order-specific quantitative patterns of cortical gyrification. Eur JNeurosci. 2007;25(9):2705–2712.
Bauer C. The baboon (Papio sp.) as a model for female reproduction studies. Contraception. 2015;92(2):120–123.
Stevens VC. Some reproductive studies in the baboon. Hum Reprod Update. 1997;3(6):533–540.
Tam SJ, Watts RJ. Connecting vascular and nervous system development: angiogenesis and the blood-brain barrier. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2010;33:379–408.
Norman MG, O’Kusky JR. The growth and development of microvasculature in human cerebral cortex. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1986;45(3):222–232.
Fowden AL, Forhead AJ. Endocrine regulation of feto-placental growth. Horm Res. 2009;72(5):257–265.
Nunez CC, Roussotte F, Sowell ER. Focus on: structural and functional brain abnormalities in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcohol Res Health. 2011;34(1):121–131.
Parnell SE, Ramadoss J, Delp MD, et al. Chronic ethanol increases fetal cerebral blood flow specific to the ethanolsensitive cerebellum under normoxaemic, hypercapnic and acidaemic conditions: ovine model. Exp Physiol. 2007;92(5):933–943.
Sawant OB, Wu G, Washburn SE. Maternal L-glutamine supplementation prevents prenatal alcohol exposure-induced fetal growth restriction in an ovine model. Amino Acids. 2015;47(6):1183–1192.
Gordon N. Spontaneous intracranial hypotension. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2009;51(12):932–935.
Yoon MK, Parsa AT, Horton JC. Skull thickening, paranasal sinus expansion, and sella turcica shrinkage from chronic intracranial hypotension. JNeurosurg Pediatr. 2013;11(6):667–672.
Bake S, Tingling JD, Miranda RC. Ethanol exposure during pregnancy persistently attenuates cranially directed blood flow in the developing fetus: evidence from ultrasound imaging in a murine second trimester equivalent model. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2012;36(5):748–758.
Kochunov P, Castro C, Davis DM, et al. Fetal brain during a binge drinking episode: a dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI fetal brain perfusion study. Neuroreport. 2010;21(10):716–721.
Blaha M, Aaslid R, Douville CM, Correra R, Newell DW. Cerebral blood flow and dynamic cerebral autoregulation during ethanol intoxication and hypercapnia. J Clin Neurosci. 2003;10(2):195–198.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tobiasz, A.M., Duncan, J.R., Bursac, Z. et al. The Effect of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Fetal Growth and Cardiovascular Parameters in a Baboon Model of Pregnancy. Reprod. Sci. 25, 1116–1123 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719117734317
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719117734317