Prenatal alcohol exposure and postpartum alcohol use patterns: preliminary data on the effects of environment enrichment on transcriptional regulation of relevant key genes

BELLIA, FABIO; WILLE-BILLE, ARANZA; PUCCI, MARIANGELA; MIRANDA-MORALES, ROBERTO SEBASTIÁN; MACARRONE, MAURO; PAUTASSI, RICARDO MARCOS; D'ADDARIO, CLAUDIO

Palermo

Congreso; 1th International Conference Perinatal Origins of Neuropsychiatric Disorders: from Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Perspectives; 2019

MNS

The consumption of alcohol by mothers during pregnancy may lead not only to mentalor physical issues for the newborn, but also be potentially dangerous to themselvesafter delivery. The postpartum period is unique since it might increase the risk ofalcohol use due to heightened stress, or even protect against this due to the newenvironment (i.e. social role and higher responsibility). These different phenotypesmight suggest an epigenetic component. Using an animal model of prenatal ethanolexposure, we here studied in mothers postpartum the effects of environmentalenrichment on brain transcriptional regulation of target genes. Female rats weresacrificed 21st days after delivery by decapitation, ventral tegmental area, pre-frontalcortex, nucleus accumbens collected and nucleic acids purified. Our findings so farshow differences in alcohol intake between dams exposed or not to the enrichedenvironment as well as in prodynorphin and brain derived neurotrophic factor genesexpression. Moreover, we are also evaluating alterations in DNA methylation andhydroxymethylation at gene promoters. These data, even if preliminary, might bepromising in order to understand the protective role of environmental switch onalcohol use as well to suggest molecular mechanisms accounting for it.