This study is interesting because around half of pregnancies are unplanned and alcohol consumption is common in women in their reproductive years. When women become accidentally pregnant and is unaware, she could continue to drink alcohol and unknowingly negatively impact her offspring. The question is that will the drinking that occurred in the early weeks of pregnancy impact the baby.
A study was conducted utilizing a rat model for PAE (Prenatal alcohol exposure) (Sci News). The goal of the study was to determine if PAE is detrimental to homeostasis in young and adult offspring. The studies showed that small amounts of alcohol can lead to insulin resistance in male offspring. The resistance was found in males of 6 months old. These 6-month-old male offspring showed that they were becoming diabetic (Nguyen, 2019). Female offspring showed no effects from PAE. In order to obtain these results the study tested PAE’s effects on glucose metabolism, lipid levels, and dietary preference in young or adult rat offspring (Nguyen, 2019). Another interesting aspect of this study are the implications it has for sex-specific inheritance. The metabolic dysfunction in a sex specific manner could potentially be due to how the placenta adapts to prenatal stress depending on the sex off the offspring (Sci News). The estrogen in female offspring as the age protects them from insulin resistance. Males have a lower estrogen levels, so they lack the protection.
There is study that wanted to see of increased risk of fetal alcohol syndrome and other deficits in infants was linked to mothers who drank in early pregnancy (Lundsberg, 1997). The study found mild drinking in the first month of pregnancy was correlated with an increase in growth of retardation and preterm delivery. The findings in the study may appear somewhat small but the importance of a human life is so great that it makes the findings carry so much more weight. The risks vary with each female and the findings suggest that it is worth further investigation.
References
Lundsberg, Lisbet S, et al. “Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic Revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720. Https://Doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720.” Low-to-Moderate Gestational Alcohol Use and Intrauterine Growth Retardation, Low Birthweight, and Preterm Delivery, vol. 7, no. 7, Oct. 1997, pp. 498–508., doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f.
News Staff. “Even Small Amounts of Alcohol during Pregnancy Can Cause Insulin Resistance in Male Offspring.” Sci News, 15 Oct. 2019.
Tam M.T. Nguyen et al. Prenatal alcohol exposure programs offspring disease: Insulin resistance in adult males in a rat model of acute exposure. Journal of Physiology, published online October 8, 2019; doi: 10.1113/JP278531
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