Prenatal Ethanol & Nicotine: Effects on Offspring Ethanol Preference & Oxytocin Changes in the Brain (2008)

Undergraduates: Emily Fay, none Elizabeth Cox, Matthew McMurray, Sarah Williams, and Thomas Jarrett none

Faculty Advisor: Josephine Johns
Department: Biology

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Alcohol and nicotine consumption during pregnancy is common, with studies citing as many as 9% of pregnant women using both alcohol and nicotine during pregnancy. Drug use during pregnancy has negative effects on the infant, and prenatal exposure to ethanol is correlated with greater preference for ethanol in adolescence. While studies on prenatal exposure to ethanol and to nicotine alone are well documented, knowledge of the combined ethanol/nicotine usage during gestation on the offspring is limited. This study examined the effect of concurrent prenatal ethanol and nicotine exposure on ethanol preference of the offspring at adolescence and adulthood and measured oxytocin receptor binding and mRNA transcription in the offspring brains. In adolescence there were no differences between gender or treatment groups, but in adulthood there was a treatment by gender effect, with females consuming more ethanol than males and control offspring consuming more ethanol than ethanol/nicotine treated offspring. No significant differences were found for oxytocin mRNA transcription, but there was a treatment and gender effect found for oxytocin receptor binding in the nucleus accumbens suggesting that oxytocin activity may be involved in reward circuitry associated with drug seeking behavior.