Effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol on activity, anxiety, motor coordination, and memory in young adult Wistar rats

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of prenatal exposure to ethanol on motor performance, emotionality, learning and memory in young-adult, male Wistar rats. Alcohol was delivered to the pregnant dams intragastrically, throughout gestation days (GD) 7-20, at the dose of 6 g/kg/day resulting in the peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 350 mg/dl as assessed on GD 20. Isocaloric intubation and untreated control groups were included. Alcohol exposed rats were not impaired in the rotarod/accelerod tests. Their behavior in the open field and plus maze suggested increased neophobia. Hyperactivity was not observed. In the spatial-navigation task in the water maze, by the middle of the training, fetal alcohol rats showed a tendency towards a slower place acquisition compared to controls, but statistical analysis of the data did not yield between-group differences significant. Towards the end of the training, all rats reached a similar performance level. No detectable between-group differences were noted either in memory retention after a delay, in reversal learning, or in working memory task. Our findings demonstrate that the adverse behavioral effects of a binge-like alcohol administration during half of the first and throughout the second trimester equivalent are difficult to be disclosed in young-adult male Wistar rats. The possible reasons of the lack of significant behavioral deficits in the fetal-alcohol rats observed in the present study are discussed.