Together, these findings indicate that exposure to ethanol in utero produces impairments in mechanisms that mediate the effects of IL-1 on body temperature (particularly during the light period) and ingestive behavior, but not on motor activity and pituitary adrenal activation. IL-1-induced corticosterone secretion was attenuated in P offspring, compared to both E and N rats.

A third experiment demonstrated that IL-1 (2 ug/ kg, ip) significantly increased ACTH and corticosterone release in all prenatal treatment groups. IL-1 also suppressed 24-h food consumption in N and P rats and water consumption in P rats, but it did not produce significant anorexia and adypsia in E rats.

This effect was similar in all prenatal treatment groups. IL-1 significantly reduced motor activity, during both the hypothermic and hyperthermic phases. During the hyperthermic phase, fever in the E rats was lower than in the P rats, but comparable to fever in the N rats. IL-1 produced an initial transient hypothermia followed by a longer-lasting hyperthermia. In a second experiment, rats were administered either IL-1 (10 μg/kg, ip) or saline at the beginning of the dark period. IL-1 produced a marked increase in body temperature, which was significantly lower in E rats than in N and P rats. In one experiment, rats were injected with either IL-1 (2 μg/kg, ip) or saline at the beginning of the light period. Transmitters for continuous biotelemetric recording of body temperature and motor activity were implanted ip in normal (N) adult rats, offspring of dams fed a liquid diet supplemented with ethanol (E), and pair-fed control offspring (P). The present study examined the effects of interleukin-lβ (IL-1) on body temperature, motor activity, ingestive behavior, and pituitary-adrenal activation in fetal alcohol-exposed and control rats.

We We have previously reported that fetal alcohol-exposed rats show markedly decreased lipopolysaccharide-induced fever and suggested that fetal alcohol exposure (FAE) impairs the communication between the immune and the nervous systems. Exposure to alcohol in utero can lead to long-lasting impairments of immune functions and to decreased resistance to infectious agents.

Final Exposure by Fae Sutherland