Abstract
It is postulated that the effect of alcohol on trace element deposition during pregnancy is a long term one, requiring alcohol administration throughout the 21 days of gestation. Female Charles River rats (N=30) were given a semi-synthetic diet throughout pregnancy. Half the animals received alcohol (8 ml/kg) by esophageal tube, the other half were sham operated. Within each group, animals were treated for one, two or three weeks beginning with day 0. Dams and pups were sacrificed following a natural delivery. Iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg) were measured in maternal and fetal tissues by atomic absorption spectometry. The results indicated an increased fetal level of Zn, Mg and Fe in all groups treated with alcohol. Increased fetal levels of Cu were found in the group treated for three weeks with alcohol. No differences were found in maternal tissue levels. These changes in fetal levels correspond to the effect of alcohol on gestation. Alcohol-treated litters were anywhere from 2 to 6 days overdue, providing a longer time period in utero for nutrient uptake.
This work was done in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Doctor of Science degree at the Harvard School of Public Health and supported in part by a grant-in-aid from the National Institutes of Health (AA-03289) and the Fund for Research and Teaching, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Clarren, S.K., and Smith, D.W., 1978, The fetal alcohol syndrome, N. Engl. J. Med., 298: 1063.
Hegsted, D.M., Mills, R.C., Elvejem, C.A., and Hart, E.B., 1941, Choline in the nutrition of chicks, J. Biol. Chem., 138: 459.
Henderson, G.I., Hoyumpa, A.M., McClain, C. and Schenker, S., 1979, The effects of chronic and acute alcohol administration on fetal development in the rat, Alcoholism: Clin. Expt. Res., 3: 99.
Huber, A.M., and Gershoff, S., 1975, Effects of zinc deficiency on the oxidation of retinol and ethanol in rats, J. Nutr., 105: 1486.
Hurley, L.S., 1969, Zinc deficiency in the developing rat, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 22: 1332.
Hurley, L.S., Cosens, L.S., and Theriault, L.L., 1976, Magnesium deficiency during pregnancy, J. Nutr., 106: 1254.
Jones, K.L., Smith, D.W., Streissguth, A.P., 1974, Outcome in offspring of chronic alcoholic women, Lancet., 1076.
Kalbfleisch, J.M., Lindenman, R.D., Ginn, H.E., and Smith, D.W., 1963, Effects of ethanol administration on urinary excretion of magnesium and other electrolytes by alcoholics and normal subjects, J. Clin. Invest., 42: 1471.
Lindenbaum, J., and Lieber, C.S„ 1969, Hematologic effects of
alcohol in man in the absence of nutritional deficiency, N. Engl. J. Med., 281: 333.
Loh, T.T., and Juggi, J.S., 1975, Changes in the blood and iron metabolism in rats with alcoholic fatty livers, Proc. Soc. Expt. Bio. Med., 150: 540.
Mendelson, R., and Huber, A.M., 1979, The effect of ethanol consumption on trace element deposition in the fetal rat. Alcoholism, 3:186ab.
Nie, N.H., Hull, C.H., Jenkins, J.G., Steinbrenner, K., and Bent
D.H., 1975, “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences,” McGraw Hill, New York.
Roe, D., 1976, “Drug-Induced Nutritional Deficiencies”, AVI Press, Westport.
Sullivan, J.E., and Lankford, J.E., 1965, Zinc metabolism and chronic alcoholism, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 17: 57.
Sviripa, Y.V., 1974 ab, Dynamics of copper metabolism and ceruloplasmin activity in patients with alcoholism and alcoholic psychoses, Quart. J. Stud. Alc., 35: 344.
Victor, M, 1960, The role of nutrition in the alcoholic neurologic diseases, J. Clin. Invest., 39: 1037.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1980 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mendelson, R.A., Huber, A.M. (1980). The Effect of Duration of Alcohol Administration on the Deposition of Trace Elements in the Fetal Rat. In: Thurman, R.G. (eds) Alcohol and Aldehyde Metabolizing Systems-IV. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1419-7_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1419-7_31
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-1421-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-1419-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive