Prenatal alcohol exposure alters expression of genes involved in cell adhesion, immune response, and toxin metabolism in adolescent rat hippocampus
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ABSTRACT: Alcohol exposure during fetal development is associated with a wide range of behavioral and physical symptoms that are observed from childhood throughout adolescence and beyond. It is believed that this exposure may alter gene expression patterns permanently by changing genomic architecture, but the actual changes themselves are still unclear. In this study we examined gene expression patterns in rats exposed to ethanol during gestation. These were compared to control rats where dams were fed a similar liquid diet without ethanol as well as rats fed a normal diet. We identified the top differentially expressed genes and performed gene ontology analysis to identify both genes and pathways important in the response to ethanol during fetal development. We focused on adolescent rats since PAE has been shown at this stage to influence behavior. We indeed found a number of significant changes in gene expression, suggesting that PAE has ongoing consequences throughout and likely beyond adolescence into adulthood. Pathways such as cell adhesion, immune response, and toxin response were all highlighted. Future work will focus on making connections between these gene expression changes and behavioral changes observed at this same life stage.
ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus
PROVIDER: GSE247256 | GEO | 2023/11/14
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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