Resumo

MATERNAL ETHANOL INTAKE DURING THE PREGNANCY AND LACTATION INDUCES ANXIOLYTIC-LIKE EFFECT AND SPATIAL MEMORY IMPAIRMENT ON THE PUPS IN ADULTHOOD Graça MS1, Miquelin GM1, Álvares RM1, Bortolani V1, Iyomasa MM1, Rosa MLNM1,2. 1Laboratory of Neuroscience, School of Medicine of Catanduva-FIPA; 2Institute of Neuroscience and Behavior-USP, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo. Brazil. E-mail-mlrosa.fameca@gmail.com OBJECTIVE: Children and adults with fetal alcoholic syndrome (FAS) have elevated rates of depression and anxiety disorders compared to control populations. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of maternal ethanol intake during the pregnancy and lactation on the fear and anxiety behaviors and on spatial memory of the pups after reaching adulthood. METHODS: Female Wistar rats (150g) were exposed to 5%-10% of ethanol, increasing 5% per week (habituation), and 10% maintained for 60 days (chronic ingestion), corresponding to the period before mating (8 days), mating (10 days), pregnancy (21 days) and lactation (21 days). The control group was exposed to water. After weaning the pups from control (n=8) and alcoholic mothers (n=16) were left undisturbed in their cages (4/cage) until PND60 (500-600g) with food and water ad libitum. The levels of anxiety and the spatial memory were analyzed on the elevated plus-maze (EPM). Behavioral responses were scored for 5min: number of entries and time on the open arms, number of entries and time on the closed arms, number of stretched attend postures (SAPs). Animals were retested after 24 hours. Groups were compared by Student t-tests and the level of significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: Pups from alcoholic mothers showed a dramatic increase in both number of entries (52%) and time (159%) in the open arms on the first test when compared to control pups (p<0.05). In contrast, non significant reduction was seemed in the number of entries (39%) in the closed arms and no difference was found in the time spent in this arm. A reduction in both scores in the open arms was found when the control pups (100%) and pups from alcoholic mothers (64-84%) were re-exposed to EPM 24 hours later. Pups from alcoholic mothers did not show any difference (p=0.304) in the number of SAPs when re-tested after 24 hours while the control pups showed a significant reduction (71%; p<0.005). CONCLUSION: Maternal alcohol intake during the pregnancy and lactation induces an anxiolytic-like effect and an impairment of the spatial memory in pups after reaching adulthood. Committee on Animal Research and Ethics(CEUA-School of Medicine of Catanduva): 02/08 Financial Support:Padre Albino Foundation.