Texas A&M study shows paternal alcohol use increases frequency of fetal development issues

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942063

 

 News Release 1-Feb-2022
Research from the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences found that prenatal exposure to alcohol in males can manifest in the placenta.
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Texas A&M University

 

Prenatal visits have traditionally focused almost exclusively on the behavior of mothers, but new research from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) continues to suggest that science should be looking more closely at the fathers’ behavior as well.

Dr. Michael Golding, an associate professor in the CVMBS’ Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology (VTPP), has spent years investigating the father’s role, specifically as it relates to drugs and alcohol, in fetal development.

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 In a November publication in the FASEB Journal, Golding’s team showed that the epigenetic factor of prenatal exposure to alcohol in males can manifest in the placenta.

According to Kara Thomas, VTPP graduate student and the lead author on the paper, their data shows that in mice, offspring of fathers exposed to alcohol have a number of placenta-related difficulties, including increased fetal growth restriction, enlarged placentas, and decreased placental efficiency.

“The placenta supplies nutrients to the growing fetus, so fetal growth restriction can be attributed to a less efficient placenta. This is why placental efficiency is such an important metric; it tells us how many grams of fetus are produced per gram of placenta,” Thomas said. “With paternal alcohol exposure, placentas become overgrown as they try to compensate for their inefficiency in delivering nutrients to the fetus.”

However, the mystery also deepened.

While these increases happened frequently in male offspring, the frequency varied greatly based on the mom; however, the same increases were far less frequent in female offspring. Golding believes this suggests that although that information is passed from the father, the mother’s genetics and the offspring’s sex also play a role.

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tags: drug use, drug abuse,