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Reducing Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Incidence of FASD: Is the Past Prologue?

Introduction

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is linked to miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, sudden infant death syndrome, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).1 Although PAE is the sole necessary cause of FASD, the etiology of this leading preventable cause of disability is multifaceted and complex, including lifestyle, maternal, sociodemographic, social, gestational, and genetic...

Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: From Animal Models to Human Studies

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can interfere with both embryonic and fetal development, producing a wide range of outcomes that fall under the rubric of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). FASD is the nondiagnostic umbrella term used to refer to the full range of effects that can occur following prenatal alcohol exposure. Such exposure can produce a variety of effects, including...

Utilization of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Research Involving Animal Models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Neuroimaging, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has begun to tease apart the underlying mechanisms behind alcohol’s deleterious effects on the fetus and eventually may lead to earlier detection of what can be devastating child neurodevelopmental deficits. In 1968, researchers first reported an association between prenatal alcohol exposure and what can be persistent adverse cognitive...

Identifying Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Children Affected by It: A Review of Biomarkers and Screening Tools

Introduction

Although the awareness of the negative impact of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) was already alluded to in ancient writings1 and the impact of ethanol embryopathy in animal models was studied as early as 1910,2 the conceptualization of a syndrome associated with PAE was not recognized within modern medicine until the mid-20th century.3,4 The syndrome or disorder was not uniformly...

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Awareness to Insight in Just 50 Years

Introduction

The establishment of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in 1971 was bracketed by three seminal papers that laid the groundwork for the field of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) research. In 1968, Lemoine et al.1 described children with birth defects and neurodevelopmental disorders associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). This French...

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Developing Immune System

Most Americans are aware that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can injure the developing fetus. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), with their developmental, cognitive, and behavioral consequences, probably are the best known dangers (Bakoyiannis et al. 2014; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] 2009). However, drinking during pregnancy also can...

In Utero Alcohol Exposure, Epigenetic Changes, and Their Consequences

Alcohol exposure of the developing embryo and fetus in utero can have a wide range of detrimental effects collectively referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Researchers are intensively investigating the mechanisms that may contribute to alcohol’s effects on the developing organism and to the resulting consequences, particularly with respect to the cognitive and behavioral...

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Cellular Differentiation: A Role for Polycomb and Trithorax Group Proteins in FAS Phenotypes?

Exposure of the developing embryo and fetus to alcohol can have profound adverse effects on physical, behavioral, and cognitive development. The resulting deficits collectively have been termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). They range in severity from mild cognitive deficits to a well-defined syndrome (i.e., fetal alcohol syndrome [FAS]), which is broadly characterized by low birth...

Dysregulation of microRNA Expression and Function Contributes to the Etiology of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are members of a vast, evolutionarily ancient, but poorly understood class of regulatory RNA molecules, termed non–protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). This means that in contrast to RNA molecules generated during gene expression (i.e., messenger RNA [mRNA] molecules), they are not used as templates for the synthesis of proteins. ncRNAs are encoded within the genomes of both eukaryotic...

Translating Alcohol Research Into Practice - Editor's Note

Translational research helps move basic science and clinical laboratory discoveries toward application in health and medicine. Through controlled experiments, basic scientists use animal models to reproduce disease characteristics caused by an agent—in this case, excessively high exposure to alcohol. Through systematic study and observation, clinical research scientists identify symptomatic and...