PRENATAL ALCOHOL--ENDOCRINE AND BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS

我们实验室和其他人以前的工作表明，产前 乙醇暴露可导致男性化和女性化， 雄性的性二型行为。 这种影响在很大程度上 从酒精对胎儿和新生儿睾酮的抑制作用 生产 产前睾丸激素的激增是不存在的， 胎儿酒精暴露（FAE）男性的浪涌减弱。 正常 这些激增的发生和时机对性行为至关重要。 男性大脑的分化。 性腺类固醇也有一个 对发展血管加压素和催产素系统的组织影响， 两者都涉及一系列成人行为的表达， 包括性行为、水消耗和昼夜节律调节 自发活动模式的节奏。 初步数据显示， FAE动物的行为改变表明这些系统可能是 被子宫内的乙醇改变了 此外，我们还观察到， 脑内加压素水平下降。 我们建议研究 乙醇对FAE男性这些系统发育的影响， 催产素和加压素mRNA原位杂交。 行为 研究的目的是描述产前酒精的影响， 对成年期昼夜节律的影响。 研究还旨在 研究视交叉上核在sesw中的反应性 动物 其他研究将检查 在关键的产前时期补充睾酮， 乙醇对雄性性别分化的影响 数据 从这些研究中得出的结论将对发展 内分泌策略来治疗宫内接触酒精的儿童。 他们 也将大大增加我们对神经内分泌的理解 有助于控制昼夜节律。

Previous work from our laboratory and others has demonstrated that prenatal ethanol exposure can result in demasculinization and feminization of sexually dimorphic behaviors in males. This effect results in large part from the inhibitory influence of ethanol on fetal and neonatal testosterone production. The prenatal surge of testosterone is absent and the postnatal surge is attenuated in fetal alcohol exposed (FAE) males. The normal occurrence and timing of these surges is critical to the sexual differentiation of the male brain. Gonadal steroids also have an organizational influence on developing vasopressin and oxytocin systems, both of which are involved in the expression of a range of adult behaviors, including sexual behavior, water consumption and regulation of circadian rhythms in locomotor activity patterns. Preliminary data demonstrate behavioral alterations in FAE animals indicating that these systems may be altered by in utero ethanol. In addition, we have observed significant decreases in vasopressin levels in brain. We have proposed to study the influence of ethanol on the development of these systems in FAE males using in situ hybridization for oxytocin and vasopressin mRNA. Behavioral studies are designed to characterize the influence of prenatal ethanol exposure on circadian rhythms in adulthood. Studies are also designed to study the responsiveness of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the sesw animals. Other studies will examine the therapeutic efficacy of testosterone replacement during the critical prenatal period to ameliorate some of the effects of ethanol on sexual differentiation in males. Data derived from these studies will be important in the development of endocrine strategies to treat children exposed to alcohol in utero. They will also add significantly to our understanding of the neuroendocrine contribution to the control of circadian rhythms.