Abstract
Ethanol has been orally administered once per week to 54 gravid pigtailed macaques (M.nemestrina) in doses of 0.0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 1.8, 2.5 or 4.1 gra/kg from the first week in gestation or in doses of 2.5, 3.3, or 4.1 gm/kg from the sixth week. Peak plasma ethanol concentrations (PPEC) ranged from 24 ± 6 mg/dl at the 0.3 gm/kg dose to 549 ± 71 mg/dl at the 4.1 gm/kg dose. An increased rate of spontaneous abortion occurred at and above the 1.8 gm/kg dose (mean PPEC = 205 mg/dl) and no viable infants were born in cohorts receiving 2.5 gm/kg or 4.1 gm/kg ethanol from the first week in gestation. Thirty-three viable infants were followed from birth to 6 months of age. No animal had any major malformations. Mental retardation and craniofacial dysmorphisms were identified nearly consistently in the animals achieving PPEC's of 150 to 250 mg/dl from the first week in gestation. Animals with higher PPEC's and exposures only after 40 days gestation were less consistently abnormal. The data demonstrated the teratogenicity of weekly ethanol exposure with an apparent period of teratogenic vulnerability in the first 6 weeks of gestation.
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Clarren, S., Bowden, D. & Astley, S. TERATOGENS FROM WEEKLY ORAL ETHANOL EXPOSURE IN A NON-HUMAN PRIMATE. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 226 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00359
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00359