Binge Drinking Prior to Pregnancy Detection in a Nonhuman Primate: Behavioral Evaluation of Offspring

Abstract

Background Minimal scientific information is available to inform public health policy on binge drinking prior to pregnancy detection. The nonhuman primate provides a valuable animal model for examining consequences to reproduction and offspring function that may result from this common pattern of alcohol abuse. Methods Adult female rhesus monkeys were dosed with 1.5 g/kg-d ethanol by gavage two days/week beginning seven months prior to mating and continuing to pregnancy detection at 19–20 days gestation. Postnatal evaluation of control (n=6) and ethanol treated (n=4) infants included a neonatal neurobehavioral assessment, a visual paired comparison (cognitive) test at 35 days of age and mother-infant interaction at 100–112 days of age. Results Alcohol-exposed neonates did not differ from controls in posture and reflex measures. Longer durations of visual fixation, suggesting slower visual processing, and greater novelty preference were seen in the alcohol group. At early weaning age, as infants spent more time away from their dams, more of the reunions between mother and infant were initiated by the mothers in the alcohol-exposed group, suggesting a more immature mother-infant interaction. Conclusion Intermittent high dose alcohol exposure (binge drinking) discontinued at early pregnancy detection in rhesus monkey can result in altered behavioral function in the infant. Mediating effects on ovum, reproductive tract and early embryo can be explored in this model. Studies of longer-term consequences in human populations and animal models are needed.

Adiposity and weight gain during pregnancy associate independently with behavior of infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

“…Previous NHP studies have characterized the fetal metabolic programming effects of maternal obesity generally as a result of feeding an experimental high‐fat diet (Kahr et al, ; McCurdy et al, ; Pound, Comstock, & Grove, ; Sullivan et al, ). Similarly, feeding high sugar (Golub, Hogrefe, & Vandevoort, ) or high‐fat (Sullivan et al, ; Sullivan, Nousen, Chamlou, & Grove, ; Sullivan, Smith, & Grove, ; Thompson et al, ) diets to dams prior to or during pregnancy can lead to offspring behavioral alterations. In contrast to these experimental models, the animal population examined in this study developed and maintained their obesity over a period of years during their adult lives as a result of inactivity and overeating the standard CNPRC high‐protein monkey diet (Lab Diet, 30% protein, 13% fat, and 56% carbohydrate).…”

Beyond the uterine environment: a nonhuman primate model to investigate maternal–fetal and neonatal outcomes following chronic intrauterine infection

“…This study outlines the successful expansion of our maternal-fetal model of intra-amniotic U. parvum infection to allow postnatal assessments of NHP infant outcomes following preterm birth. Neonatal NHP studies, including those of respiratory therapies and brain development in the preterm baboon and behavioral development in pigtail macaques have previously demonstrated the value of NHP models for the study of important perinatal outcomes that are difficult to assess clinically 19 , 25 – 29 . By combining our established catheterized pregnant monkey model 10 with our newly developed NHP Special Care Nursery we are able to examine longitudinal outcomes in preterm rhesus monkeys across the fetal and postnatal periods.…”

Adverse biobehavioral effects in infants resulting from pregnant rhesus macaques’ exposure to wildfire smoke

“…Because oocyte growth and maturation in human and nonhuman primates is a months-long process prior to ovulation and involves epigenetic reprogramming of the oocyte 22 , we cannot rule out that effects of WFS exposure persisted beyond the period of intense smoky air and could affect fetal development in our non-exposed animals. Such latent effects, both reproductive and behavioral, have been found, for example, in a primate model of binge drinking, in which the drinking ended prior to conception 23 , 24 . Consequently, we used the larger, historical cohort to answer this question.…”