Folic acid intestinal absorption in newborn rats at 21 day postpartum: effects of maternal ethanol consumption.

This study was designed to examine the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure of ethanol in the in vivo absorption of free folic acid in the small intestine in pups rats at the 21st day after birth. The rats were accustomed to increasing amounts of ethanol (5 to 20%, vol/vol) in tap water for 1 month. During pregnancy and suckling period, ethanol-fed dams were assigned again to ethanol 20% in drinking water. Two sets of experiments were performed. In the first set, jejunal free folic acid absorption in control group and litters nursed by dams receiving ethanol showed a gradual increase along with the increase of perfusion time at all the assayed concentrations. In general, in litters of ethanol-fed dams, jejunal free folic acid absorption expressed as nmol/intestinal surface, nmol/g tissue wet weight and nmol/g tissue dry weight were higher than in control animals. In the second set of experiments, in distal ileum loops, free folic acid absorption did not occur in control pups, but appeared in litters exposed to ethanol. Milk folic acid levels are significantly decreased in ethanol-treated dams. However, only a slight decrease in the serum folic acid levels occurs in litters of ethanol-fed dams. In conclusion, the results obtained in the present work suggested a different pattern of free folic acid absorption in distal ileum for the two groups. The exposure of rats to ethanol during the pregnancy and suckling period, can affect postnatal development of intestinal functions and could play a role in the genesis of malnutrition observed in the infant.