Learning experiences comprising central ethanol exposure in rat neonates: Impact upon respiratory plasticity and the activity of brain catalase

TRUJILLO, VERÓNICA; MACCHIONE, ANA FABIOLA; ALBRECHT, PAULA ALEJANDRA; VIRGOLINI, MIRIAM BEATRÍZ; MOLINA, JUAN CARLOS

ALCOHOL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Año: 2020 vol. 88 p. 11 - 11

0741-8329

etal ethanol exposure represents a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome, and the respiratory effects of fetal ethanol exposure promote hypoxic ischemic consequences. This study analyzes central ethanol´s effects upon breathing plasticity during an ontogenetic stage equivalent to the human third gestational trimester. Ethanol´s unconditioned breathing effects and their intervention in learning processes were examined. Since central ethanol is primarily metabolized via the catalase system, we also examined the effects of early history with the drug upon this system. During postnatal days 3, 5, and 7 (PDs 3?7), pups were intracisternally administered with vehicle or ethanol (300 mg%). They were tested in a plethysmograph scented or not scented with ethanol odor. The state of intoxication attenuated the onset of apneas, a phenomenon that is suggestive of ethanol´s anxiolytic effects given the state of arousal caused by the novel environment and the stress of ethanol administration