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Karunamuni G, Sheehan MM, Doughman YQ, Gu S, Sun J, Li Y, Strainic JP, Rollins AM, Jenkins MW, Watanabe M. Supplementation with the Methyl Donor Betaine Prevents Congenital Defects Induced by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2017; 41:1917-1927. [PMID: 28888041 DOI: 10.1111/acer.13495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 08/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite decades of public education about dire consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), drinking alcohol during pregnancy remains prevalent. As high as 40% of live-born infants exposed to alcohol during gestation and diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome have congenital heart defects that can be life-threatening. In animal models, the methyl donor betaine, found in foods such as wheat bran, quinoa, beets, and spinach, ameliorated neurobehavioral deficits associated with PAE, but effects on heart development are unknown. METHODS Previously, we modeled a binge drinking episode during the first trimester in avian embryos. Here, we investigated whether betaine could prevent adverse effects of alcohol on heart development. Embryos exposed to ethanol (EtOH) with and without an optimal dose of betaine (5 μM) were analyzed at late developmental stages. Cardiac morphology parameters were rapidly analyzed and quantified using optical coherence tomography. DNA methylation at early stages was detected by immunofluorescent staining for 5-methylcytosine in sections of embryos treated with EtOH or cotreated with betaine. RESULTS Compared to EtOH-exposed embryos, betaine-supplemented embryos had higher late-stage survival rates and fewer gross head and body defects than seen after alcohol exposure alone. Betaine also reduced the incidence of late-stage cardiac defects such as absent vessels, abnormal atrioventricular (AV) valves, and hypertrophic ventricles. Furthermore, betaine cotreatment brought measurements of great vessel diameters, interventricular septum thickness, and AV leaflet volumes in betaine-supplemented embryos close to control values. Early-stage 5-methycytosine staining revealed that DNA methylation levels were reduced by EtOH exposure and normalized by co-administration with betaine. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study demonstrating efficacy of the methyl donor betaine in alleviating cardiac defects associated with PAE. These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of low-concentration betaine doses in mitigating PAE-induced birth defects and have implications for prenatal nutrition policies, especially for women who may not be responsive to folate supplementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ganga Karunamuni
- Department of Pediatrics, Congenital Heart Collaborative, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Megan M Sheehan
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Yong Qiu Doughman
- Department of Pediatrics, Congenital Heart Collaborative, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Shi Gu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Jiayang Sun
- Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Center for Statistical Research, Computing and Collaboration, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Youjun Li
- Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Center for Statistical Research, Computing and Collaboration, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - James P Strainic
- Department of Pediatrics, Congenital Heart Collaborative, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Andrew M Rollins
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Michael W Jenkins
- Department of Pediatrics, Congenital Heart Collaborative, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Michiko Watanabe
- Department of Pediatrics, Congenital Heart Collaborative, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
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Abstract
The effects of alcohol and pregnancy on venous blood pH, gases (pO2, pCO2), bicarbonate (HCO-3), and glucose and lactate were examined in pregnant and nonpregnant female rats using anaerobic analytical methods of blood collection. Baseline measurements were obtained prior to treatment and then at 30 min, 1, 2, and 4 h after gastric intubation with 0, 2, 4, or 6 g/kg of alcohol. Alcohol produced a metabolic acidosis, increases in blood glucose and lactate concentrations, and an increase in blood oxygen concentration. Gestation days 18-19 (0.8 gestation) of pregnancy were associated with a slight alkalosis, a decrease in oxygen concentration, no effect on glucose concentrations, and an increase in lactate concentrations compared with nonpregnancy. The only significant interaction between alcohol and pregnancy occurred for pO2 and O2C, wherein alcohol increased both of these parameters in nonpregnant animals only. These results indicate that the rat's pH response to acute alcohol infusion is unique because alcohol does not produce any significant changes in blood pH in other animal models. This change was similar in both pregnant and nonpregnant animals. Except for changes in blood oxygen content, the pregnant and nonpregnant female rat's response to alcohol were also similar as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- E L Abel
- Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
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Patrick J, Carmichael L, Richardson B, Smith G, Homan J, Brien J. Effects of multiple-dose maternal ethanol infusion on fetal cardiovascular and brain activity in lambs. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1988; 159:1424-9. [PMID: 3207119 DOI: 10.1016/0002-9378(88)90568-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Ethanol (2 gm/kg of maternal body weight administered in four equal doses of 0.5 gm/kg over 5 hours) was infused intravenously into nine chronically prepared pregnant ewes between 124 and 137 days' gestation. The data demonstrated a dose-response relationship between fetal arterial ethanol concentrations and the incidence of fetal breathing movements. Suppression of normal fetal electrocortical activity occurred at a low ethanol concentration and returned to control values at a time of very high arterial ethanol concentrations. This experimental model of a binge drinking episode further supports the hypothesis that ethanol suppresses fetal breathing movements by a direct central mechanism rather than indirectly by alteration of electrocortical activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Patrick
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
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Ruckman RN, Messersmith DJ, O'Brien SA, Getson PR, Boeckx RL, Morse DE. Chronic ethanol exposure in the embryonic chick heart: effect on myocardial function and structure. TERATOLOGY 1988; 37:317-27. [PMID: 3394107 DOI: 10.1002/tera.1420370405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
To investigate the effect of chronic ethanol exposure on the embryonic chick heart, chick embryos were exposed daily to one of seven graded doses of ethanol or to saline only (shams) from 0 to 96 hr of incubation. One hour before and after exposure at 72 hr, and 1 hr before and after exposure at 96 hr, embryos were analyzed for changes in heart function, embryo tissue ethanol content, occurrence of anomalies, and embryo weights. At both 71 and 73 hr of incubation (during cardiogenesis), when compared to shams, heart rate (HR) in embryos receiving ethanol doses greater than 0.0375 ml increased significantly (P less than .05) with commensurate increases in injected ethanol. Additionally, at 73 hr, depressed cardiac contractility, measured as shortening fraction, was noted at doses greater than or equal to .0375 when compared to shams. While slight increases in shortening fraction (SF) across dose were noted at 95 and 97 hr, only random doses were statistically significant from shams, with no specific trend in either HR or SF at this postcardiogenesis stage. Within each time group, gas chromatography analysis of embryo tissue ethanol content demonstrated a linear relationship between dose injected and tissue ethanol content retrieved. With increasing dose and stage, viability decreased. Weights of ethanol-injected embryos were not significantly different from shams within each time group. Our studies of the response of the embryonic chick heart to ethanol indicate both dose and stage susceptibility, with greater susceptibility to ethanol injury during active cardiogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- R N Ruckman
- Department of Cardiology, Children's Hospital National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. 20010
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Richardson B, Patrick J, Homan J, Carmichael L, Brien J. Cerebral oxidative metabolism in fetal sheep with multiple-dose ethanol infusion. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1987; 157:1496-502. [PMID: 3425653 DOI: 10.1016/s0002-9378(87)80250-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Cerebral oxidative metabolism and cotylendonary blood flow were measured in 10 unanesthetized fetal sheep (127 to 132 days' gestation) during a control period, after the first, third, and fourth infusions of four doses of 0.5 gm of ethanol per kilogram of maternal body weight infused into the ewe during 5 hours, and 24 hours after ethanol infusion. Preductal arterial and sagittal vein blood samples were analyzed for oxygen content, blood gases, pH, and ethanol. Cerebral and cotylendonary blood flow were measured with a radioactive microsphere technique. Fetal blood gases and pH changed little with the ethanol infusions, although PaO2 and oxygen content decreased 24 hours after ethanol infusion. Cotylendonary blood flow, which was decreased after the third and fourth ethanol infusions, did not account for these delayed hypoxemic changes. Similarly, cerebral oxidative metabolism was decreased when measured after each of the ethanol infusions, with no dose response or tolerance evident. This noted fall in fetal cerebral oxidative metabolism appears to be a direct depressant effect that was maximal at rather low fetal ethanol levels, which, if prolonged, might well affect cerebral growth and development. Recovery of cerebral metabolic function appeared complete by 24 hours. However, relative fetal hypoxemia was evident at this time, the mechanism of which remains to be determined.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Richardson
- Research Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada
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