SRA

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy results in a spectrum of lifelong behavioral and cognitive deficits collectively known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). FASD is a major health burden in most societies, there is no cure, and the molecular mechanism involved in its development is poorly understood. Human neurodevelopment is a continuum that extends over two decades after birth, with the potential to influence outcomes both prenatally and postnatally. Here, we experimentally investigate if positive postnatal environment enrichment ameliorates behavioral deficits caused by ethanol exposure. Furthermore, we assessed if this modulation is associated with alterations in hippocampal gene expression. To accomplish this, we used a binge model of ethanol exposure followed by environmental enrichment in C57BL/6 mice to generate four groups of animals: (1) control mice raised in standard conditions, (2) mice raised in enriched environments, (3) ethanol-exposed mice raised in standard conditions, and (4) ethanol-exposed mice raised in enriched environments. The environmental enrichment includes larger home cages with more individuals for social interaction, regular exposure to novel items, and access to running wheels. Ethanol exposure results in anxiety-like behavior (light-dark box) as well as learning and memory deficits (Barnes maze) that are at least partially ameliorated by enrichment. Environmental enrichment also improves performance for individuals not exposed to ethanol. Ethanol exposure induces changes in adult hippocampal gene expression (RNA-Seq). Some of the changes in adult hippocampal gene expression following ethanol exposure are reversed by environmental enrichment. The results offer a potential mechanism of behavioral deficits caused by ethanol exposure, including the potential for amelioration after an FASD diagnosis. Overall design: Hippocampal RNA profiles of adult mice that had been prenatally exposed to alcohol and/or postnatal environmental enrichment as well as non-exposed controls were generated by sequencing, using Illumina HiSeq.