Ethanol teratogenesis in mice selected for differences in alcohol sensitivity.

Long-Sleep (LS) and Short-Sleep (SS) mice, selectively bred for differences in ethanol-induced narcosis, were administered ethanol (2.9, 4.0, 4.5, or 5.0 g/kg) twice per day during the period of organogenesis. On gestation day 18, the dams were sacrificed and the uterine horns were examined for live, dead, and resorbed fetuses. Live fetuses were weighed and assessed for either skeletal or soft tissue anomalies. The 5.8 g/kg/day dose had no effect on prenatal mortality, litter size, body weight, or number of physical anomalies in either line. However, the alcohol-sensitive LS mice exposed to ethanol doses of 8.0 g/kg/day or more evidenced decreased body weights while weights for the alcohol-insensitive SS mice differed from controls at only the highest dose tested. The incidence of skeletal variants was increased in the LS mice exposed to the 10 g/kg/day ethanol dose. These results indicate genetically-mediated alcohol sensitivity increases susceptibility to some of the fetotoxic effects of in utero alcohol exposure.