Neonatal Binge Ethanol Exposure Using Intubation: Timing and Dose Effects on Place Learning

• Published in: Neurotoxicology and teratology Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 435 - 446
• Main Authors: Goodlett, Charles R, Johnson, Timothy B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-11-1997; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Animals; Animals, Newborn - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Central Nervous System Depressants - administration & dosage; Central Nervous System Depressants - blood; Central Nervous System Depressants - toxicity; Conditioning, Operant - drug effects; Cues; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Ethanol - blood; Ethanol - toxicity; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - psychology; Fetal alcohol syndrome; Intubation, Gastrointestinal; Medical sciences; Morris water maze; Neonatal ethanol; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Spatial learning; Time Factors; Toxicology; Weight Gain - drug effects; Fetal alcohol syndrome; Morris water maze; Neonatal ethanol; Spatial learning; Second trimester; Nervous system diseases; Ethanol; Rat; Toxicity; Rodentia; Oral administration; Spatial orientation; Time response relation; Gestational age; Dose activity relation; Learning; Newborn diseases; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Newborn animal; Behavior; Teratogen
• ISSN: 0892-0362; 1872-9738
• DOI: 10.1016/S0892-0362(97)00062-7

Neonatal rats were given ethanol using an acute intubation procedure that resulted in daily binge-like exposure with minimal effects on somatic growth. Acquisition of place learning in the Morris water maze was evaluated on postnatal days (PD) 26–31. In Experiment 1, a total of 5.25 g/kg/day of ethanol was administered in two daily intubations on PD 4–6, PD 7–9, or PD 4–9, producing mean peak BACs of 265 mg/dl. Place learning acquisition deficits in a 114-cm-diameter tank were found for the PD 4–9 and PD 7–9 groups, but not the PD 4–6 group. In Experiment 2, either 4.5 or 5.25 g/kg/day of ethanol was administered on PD 7–9 and place learning was tested in a 171-cm-diameter tank. Significant acquisition deficits resulted from the higher dose, and probe trial search patterns for both ethanol groups were significantly less localized than controls. In Experiment 3, no significant effects of either PD 7–9 dose were found on a visible platform task. These findings reveal selective place learning deficits in this intubation model of neonatal binge exposure, and confirm a temporal window of vulnerability to spatial learning deficits during the second neonatal week.