Prenatal ethanol exposure alters rat brain morphology but does not affect amygdaloid kindling.

Exposure of the mammalian fetus to ethanol causes a variety of nervous system abnormalities, but the evidence relating to seizure susceptibility is contradictory. Therefore, offspring of rat dams that had consumed a mean of 6.9 g/kg/day of ethanol were compared with pair-fed and free-fed controls on rate of electrical kindling of the amygdala and on open field measures of activity. The Ethanol-exposed males displayed increased ambulation and the Ethanol females displayed increased rearing and defecation in an open field. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in rate of kindling. Although the gross size of the brains measured on a coronal section through the anterior tip of the hippocampus did not differ significantly among the groups, there was a highly significant reduction in percent brain tissue area and a corresponding increase in percent ventricle area in the Ethanol group.