ABSTRACT
Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can result in offspring with alcohol-related birth defects (ARBDs) which can include Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in children. Psychopharmacological assessment of prenatal alcohol-exposed animals can provide information about the relationship between teratogen-induced neurochemical and behavioral alterations. Animals exposed prenatally to alcohol tend to show exaggerated responses to CNS stimulants. The differential effects of prenatal alcohol are influenced by age, gender and dose of psychopharmacological drags. The earliest study assessing altered pharmacological responses assessed cross-tolerance between prenatal alcohol-exposure and other postnatal drugs. Adult rats exposed prenatally to alcohol showed no differences in the hyper-or hypothermic effects of chlorpromazine, amphetamine, clonidine, or apomorphine. Several studies have explored the role of cholinergic systems in hyperactivity in rats after prenatal alcohol exposure, sometimes with contradictory results. The exaggerated responses to methylphenidate and amphetamine in rats suggest that prenatal alcohol-exposure altered dopamine systems in functionally significant ways.
