Sexual orientation of male mouse offspring prenatally exposed to ethanol

• Published in: Neurotoxicology and teratology Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 25
• Main Authors: Watabe, T, Endo, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-01-1994
• Subjects: Alcoholic Intoxication - psychology; Animals; Ethanol - blood; Ethanol - pharmacology; Female; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Postural Balance - drug effects; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Sexual Behavior, Animal - drug effects
• ISSN: 0892-0362
• DOI: 10.1016/0892-0362(94)90005-1

Pregnant mice were intubated with either low (2 g/kg) or high (4 g/kg) dose of ethanol twice daily throughout the last third of the gestational period (from dg14 to dg18: gestational day; plug positive = dg 0). Ninety days after birth, the sexual orientation test was conducted on male offspring. This test was designed to observe a two-choice preference for either male or female partners in a setting in which the test animal could move freely between the two incentive compartments within which a stud male and an estrous female had been placed. We found that young adult males that had been exposed to ethanol prenatally have a decreased preference for the opposite sex and an increased preference for the same sex as a partner, although their physical development was apparently unaffected.