Maternal ethanol consumption: effect on (Na+-K+)-ATPase in rat offspring.

The activity of Mg2+-activated, ouabain-sensitive adenosine triphosphatase, (Na+-K+)-ATPase, was determined in homogenates of hypothalamus, cortex, cerebellum, and brain stem from the 19-day-old offspring of rats that were pair-fed control or (6.6%, v/v) ethanol liquid diets on a chronic basis prior to parturition. In the offspring of both control and ethanol-fed rats the specific activity of (Na+-K+)-ATPase was significantly (p less than 0.01) greater in the cortex than it was in the hypothalamus, brain stem or cerebellum (hypothalamus approximately brain stem approximately cerebellum). When the offspring of ethanol-fed and control rats were compared we observed no significant (p greater than 0.05) differences in the activity of (Na+-K+)-ATPase in any of the four brain regions examined. In addition, the results of kinetic analyses of cortical (Na+-K+)-ATPase were similar in the 19-day-old offspring of ethanol-fed rats and those whose mothers consumed either the control liquid diet or standard laboratory chow. The results of these studies suggest that the activity of the plasma membrane enzyme, (Na+-K+)-ATPase, was not affected in the 19-day-old offspring of ethanol-fed rats.