Early life outcomes of prenatal exposure to alcohol and synthetic cannabinoids in mice.

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of prenatal co-exposure to alcohol and synthetic cannabinoids on offspring viability, physical development, and neurobehavioral outcomes in young adulthood. The goal of this investigation was to determine whether prenatal co-exposure produced distinct outcomes from single-drug exposures, including sex-specific vulnerabilities in motor coordination and exploratory behaviors.

Methods: Pregnant C57Bl/6 J mice were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: drug-free controls, alcohol (ALC)-exposed, cannabinoid (CP-55,940, CB)-exposed or ALC+CB-exposed, with drug exposure occurring between Gestational Days 12-15.

Prenatal alcohol exposure worsens acute but not long-term cognitive outcomes due to stroke in middle-aged Sprague-Dawley rat offspring.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is the major cause of developmental disability, ultimately resulting in a wide range of long-term health consequences across the lifespan. PAE adults are at increased risk for metabolic, immune, and cardiovascular disease, and neurocognitive disabilities. However, little is known about the contribution of PAE to adult-onset cerebrovascular disease, specifically ischemic stroke during middle age, a time when stroke incidence and severity typically increase.

Noncoding RNA and Alcohol Use Disorder: A Scoping Review of Current Research and Knowledge Gaps.

Background: Alcohol use and misuse can result in substantial disease burden and mortality, with significant public health and social costs. The need for better diagnoses and medications development for all conditions associated with alcohol use emphasizes the need for research into underlying molecular mechanisms. Noncoding ribonucleic acids (ncRNAs) are an explanatory mechanism for transducing environmental effects into cells and tissues.

Early Life Outcomes of Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol and Synthetic Cannabinoids in Mice.

This study explores the effects of prenatal co-exposure to alcohol and synthetic cannabinoids on offspring viability, physical development, and neurobehavioral outcomes in young adulthood. The aim is to identify distinct outcomes of co-exposure compared to single-drug exposures and to examine potential sex-specific vulnerabilities in motor coordination and exploratory behaviors. Pregnant C57Bl/6J mice were assigned to one of four treatment groups: Control, Alcohol-exposed, Cannabinoid-exposed, or Alcohol+Cannabinoid-exposed, with drug administration occurring between Gestational Days 12-15.

Maternal, paternal, and dual-parental alcohol exposures result in both overlapping and distinct impacts on behavior in adolescent offspring.

Emerging research reveals that alcohol use by fathers before conception can affect the growth and development of their offspring. Here, we used a C57BL/6J mouse model to study the effects of alcohol exposure on the behavior of the first-generation (F1) offspring, comparing the impacts of alcohol exposure by mothers, fathers, and both parents. Our goal was to determine how alcohol exposure by each parent or both parents influences the behavior of the offspring.

Reduction of APOE accounts for neurobehavioral deficits in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

A hallmark of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is neurobehavioral deficits that still do not have effective treatment. Here, we present that reduction of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is critically involved in neurobehavioral deficits in FASD. We show that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) changes chromatin accessibility of Apoe locus, and causes reduction of APOE levels in both the brain and peripheral blood in postnatal mice.

Reduced fetal cerebral blood flow predicts perinatal mortality in a mouse model of prenatal alcohol and cannabinoid exposure.

Background: Children exposed prenatally to alcohol or cannabinoids individually can exhibit growth deficits and increased risk for adverse birth outcomes. However, these drugs are often co-consumed and their combined effects on early brain development are virtually unknown. The blood vessels of the fetal brain emerge and mature during the neurogenic period to support nutritional needs of the rapidly growing brain, and teratogenic exposure during this gestational window may therefore impair fetal cerebrovascular development.

Maternal circulating miRNAs contribute to negative pregnancy outcomes by altering placental transcriptome and fetal vascular dynamics.

Circulating miRNAs the in blood are promising biomarkers for predicting pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes. Previous work identified 11 gestationally elevated maternal circulating miRNAs (HEamiRNAs) that predicted infant growth deficits following prenatal alcohol exposure and regulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the placenta. Here we show that a single intravascular administration of pooled murine-conserved HEamiRNAs to pregnant mice on gestational day 10 (GD10) attenuates umbilical cord blood flow during gestation, explaining the observed intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), specifically decreased fetal weight, and morphometric indices of cranial growth.

Prenatal alcohol alters inflammatory signatures in enteric portal tissues following adult-onset cerebrovascular ischemic stroke.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) impairs recovery from cerebrovascular ischemic stroke in adult rodents. Since the gut becomes dysbiotic following stroke, we assessed links between PAE and enteric portal inflammation. Adult control and PAE rat offspring received a unilateral endothelin-1-induced occlusion of the middle cerebral artery.

The interaction of genetic sex and prenatal alcohol exposure on health across the lifespan.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can reprogram the development of cells and tissues, resulting in a spectrum of physical and neurobehavioral teratology. PAE immediately impacts fetal growth, but its effects carry forward post-parturition, into adolescence and adulthood, and can result in a cluster of disabilities, collectively termed Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Emerging preclinical and clinical research investigating neurological and behavioral outcomes in exposed offspring point to genetic sex as an important modifier of the effects of PAE.

Assessing the effects of prenatal poly-drug exposure on fetal brain vasculature using optical coherence angiography.

Significance: Maternal exposure to drugs during pregnancy is known to have detrimental effects on the fetus. Alcohol (ethanol) and nicotine are two of the most commonly co-abused substances during pregnancy, and prenatal poly-drug exposure is common due, in part, to the prevalence of unplanned pregnancies. The second trimester is a critical period for fetal neurogenesis and angiogenesis.

Microbiota and nutrition as risk and resiliency factors following prenatal alcohol exposure.

Alcohol exposure in adulthood can result in inflammation, malnutrition, and altered gastroenteric microbiota, which may disrupt efficient nutrient extraction. Clinical and preclinical studies have documented convincingly that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) also results in persistent inflammation and nutrition deficiencies, though research on the impact of PAE on the enteric microbiota is in its infancy. Importantly, other neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, have been linked to gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Vascular Contributions to the Neurobiological Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.

Unlabelled: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are often characterized as a cluster of brain-based disabilities. Though cardiovascular effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have been documented, the vascular deficits due to PAE are less understood, but may contribute substantially to the severity of neurobehavioral presentation and health outcomes in persons with FASD.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of research articles curated in PubMed to assess the strength of the research on vascular effects of PAE.

Sex differences in the transcriptome of extracellular vesicles secreted by fetal neural stem cells and effects of chronic alcohol exposure.

Background: Prenatal alcohol (ethanol) exposure (PAE) results in brain growth restriction, in part, by reprogramming self-renewal and maturation of fetal neural stem cells (NSCs) during neurogenesis. We recently showed that ethanol resulted in enrichment of both proteins and pro-maturation microRNAs in sub-200-nm-sized extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by fetal NSCs. Moreover, EVs secreted by ethanol-exposed NSCs exhibited diminished efficacy in controlling NSC metabolism and maturation.

Cerebellar Transcriptomic Analysis in a Chronic plus Binge Mouse Model of Alcohol Use Disorder Demonstrates Ethanol-Induced Neuroinflammation and Altered Glial Gene Expression.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most common preventable mental health disorders and can result in pathology within the CNS, including the cerebellum. Cerebellar alcohol exposure during adulthood has been associated with disruptions in proper cerebellar function. However, the mechanisms regulating ethanol-induced cerebellar neuropathology are not well understood.

Alcohol & cannabinoid co-use: Implications for impaired fetal brain development following gestational exposure.

Alcohol and marijuana are two of the most consumed psychoactive substances by pregnant people, and independently, both substances have been associated with lifelong impacts on fetal neurodevelopment. Importantly, individuals of child-bearing age are increasingly engaging in simultaneous alcohol and cannabinoid (SAC) use, which amplifies each drug's pharmacodynamic effects and increases craving for both substances. However, to date, investigations of prenatal polysubstance use are notably limited in both human and non-human populations.

Dose-related shifts in proteome and function of extracellular vesicles secreted by fetal neural stem cells following chronic alcohol exposure.

Accumulating evidence indicates that extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate endocrine functions and also pathogenic effects of neurodevelopmental perturbagens like ethanol. We performed mass-spectrometry on EVs secreted by fetal murine cerebral cortical neural stem cells (NSCs), cultured as sex-specific neurosphere cultures, to identify overrepresented proteins and signaling pathways in EVs relative to parental NSCs in controls, and following exposure of parental NSCs to a dose range of ethanol. EV proteomes differ substantially from parental NSCs, and though EVs sequester proteins across sub-cellular compartments, they are enriched for distinct morphogenetic signals including the planar cell polarity pathway.

Prenatal alcohol exposure exacerbates acute sensorimotor deficits and impedes long-term behavioral recovery from the effects of an adult-onset cerebrovascular ischemic stroke.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is a significant risk factor for developmental disability, although its health consequences across the lifespan are poorly understood. Here, we hypothesized that latent brain and systemic consequences of PAE influence resiliency to adult-onset neurological disease, specifically, cerebrovascular ischemic stroke.

Methods: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed episodically to ethanol during the fetal neurogenic period.

Prenatal alcohol exposure contributes to negative pregnancy outcomes by altering fetal vascular dynamics and the placental transcriptome.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been shown to alter fetal blood flow in utero and is also associated with placental insufficiency and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), suggesting an underlying connection between perturbed circulation and pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: Timed-pregnant C57/BL6NHsd mice, bred in-house, were exposed by gavage on gestational day 10 (GD10) to ethanol (3 g/kg) or purified water, as a control. Pulse-wave Doppler ultrasound measurements for umbilical arteries and ascending aorta were obtained post-gavage (GD12, GD14, GD18) on 2 fetuses/litter.

Prenatal opioid-exposed infant extracellular miRNA signature obtained at birth predicts severity of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

Prenatal opioid exposure (POE) is commonly associated with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), which is characterized by a broad variability in symptoms and severity. Currently there are no diagnostic tools to reliably predict which infants will develop severe NOWS, while risk stratification would allow for proactive decisions about appropriate clinical monitoring and interventions. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to assess if extracellular microRNAs (miRNAs) in umbilical cord plasma of infants with POE could predict NOWS severity.

Gag-like proteins: Novel mediators of prenatal alcohol exposure in neural development.

Background: We previously showed that ethanol did not kill fetal neural stem cells (NSCs), but that their numbers nevertheless are decreased due to aberrant maturation and loss of self-renewal. To identify mechanisms that mediate this loss of NSCs, we focused on a family of Gag-like proteins (GLPs), derived from retroviral gene remnants within mammalian genomes. GLPs are important for fetal development, though their role in brain development is virtually unexplored.

Hemorrhage and Locomotor Deficits Induced by Pain Input after Spinal Cord Injury Are Partially Mediated by Changes in Hemodynamics.

Nociceptive input diminishes recovery and increases lesion area after a spinal cord injury (SCI). Recent work has linked these effects to the expansion of hemorrhage at the site of injury. The current article examines whether these adverse effects are linked to a pain-induced rise in blood pressure (BP) and/or flow.

Extracellular Vesicles in Premature Aging and Diseases in Adulthood Due to Developmental Exposures.

The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is a paradigm that links prenatal and early life exposures that occur during crucial periods of development to health outcome and risk of disease later in life. Maternal exposures to stress, some psychoactive drugs and alcohol, and environmental chemicals, among others, may result in functional changes in developing fetal tissues, creating a predisposition for disease in the individual as they age. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) may be mediators of both the immediate effects of exposure during development and early childhood as well as the long-term consequences of exposure that lead to increased risk and disease severity later in life.

Toxic and Teratogenic Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Fetal Development, Adolescence, and Adulthood.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can have immediate and long-lasting toxic and teratogenic effects on an individual's development and health. As a toxicant, alcohol can lead to a variety of physical and neurological anomalies in the fetus that can lead to behavioral and other impairments which may last a lifetime. Recent studies have focused on identifying mechanisms that mediate the immediate teratogenic effects of alcohol on fetal development and mechanisms that facilitate the persistent toxic effects of alcohol on health and predisposition to disease later in life.

Prenatal alcohol-induced sex differences in immune, metabolic and neurobehavioral outcomes in adult rats.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in neurobehavioral anomalies, that may be exacerbated by co-occurring metabolic and immune system deficits. To test the hypothesis that the peripheral inflammation in adult PAE offspring is linked to poor glucose metabolism and neurocognitive deficits, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to ethanol vapor or ambient air during the latter half of gestation. We assessed, in adult offspring of both sexes, performance on a battery of neurocognitive behaviors, glucose tolerance, circulating and splenic immune cells by flow-cytometry, and circulating and tissue (liver, mesenteric adipose, and spleen) cytokines by multiplexed assays.