Effects of maternal consumption of ethanol, barbital, or chlordiazepoxide on the behavior of the offspring

Abstract

Female rats received barbital or chlordiazepoxide (CDP) in their drinking water or ethanol in a liquid diet with drug administration beginning before breeding and continuing until the offspring were weaned. Control groups received either tap water and lab chow (untreated controls) or a liquid diet containing sucrose which was delivered in restricted amounts such that it was equicaloric to the diet consumed by the ethanol group. Both birth weight and weight at 1 week of age were reduced by barbital exposure but not by CDP exposure. Growth was reduced slightly in the ethanol group, as compared to the sucrose control group. At 21 days of age the offspring were trained to avoid footshock and retested at 28 days of age. In both sessions the barbital offspring displayed longer avoidance latencies than controls, while the CDP and ethanol groups displayed shorter latencies than controls only during the training session. When trained to respond for food presentation under a fixed-ratio 20 schedule, the response rates of the barbital and CDP groups were less than those of the untreated control group while the response rates of both the ethanol and sucrose groups were greater than those of the untreated control group. When injected with ethanol or pentobarbital, the duration of narcosis was less for the offspring of the CDP- and barbital-treated mothers than for the untreated controls. Ethanol and sucrose offspring were not different in this regard. These results demonstrate that chronic maternal ingestion of ethanol, barbital, or CDP during gestation and nursing can affect the growth, behavior, and drug sensitivity of the offspring.