Neuroendocrine effects of fetal alcohol exposure.

While the actions of alcohol on endocrine function in adults are well-documented, the effects of fetal exposure to alcohol on neuroendocrine function in neonates and adults are only beginning to be investigated. Recent reports are reviewed which demonstrate effects of fetal alcohol exposure on pituitary-adrenal function, GH secretion, thyroxine levels and sexual differentiation in newborn rodents. Our studies of the long-term effects of fetal and early postnatal exposure to alcohol on pituitary-adrenal and body temperature responses to a challenge dose of ethanol in adult rats are described. Both responses are enhanced in prenatally, but not in postnatally exposed rats, indicating that the effects of fetal alcohol exposure on physiological systems, such as the endocrine and thermoregulatory systems, persist to adulthood. Based on apparent similarities in the somatic and cerebral deficits which occur following fetal alcohol exposure and neonatal corticosteroid treatment, a hypothesis is developed for the role of alcohol-induced activation of the HPA axis during gestation in the adverse effects of fetal alcohol exposure.