TY - JOUR
T1 - Alteration of selective neurotransmitters in fetal brains of prenatally alcohol-treated C57BL/6 mice
T2 - Quantitative analysis using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry
AU - Sari, Youssef
AU - Hammad, Loubna A.
AU - Saleh, Marwa M.
AU - Rebec, George V.
AU - Mechref, Yehia
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank NIH-NIAAA for their full support in this project, grant number R21AA016115 (YS). This work was also supported by the metabolomic and cytomic initiative (METACyt) funded by a Lilly endowment. The authors would like to thank Dr. Min Zhang for her contribution to the statistical analyses. The authors would like to thank Faye Caylor for her administrative assistance. The authors would like finally to thank Verity Johnson for editing this manuscript.
PY - 2010/5
Y1 - 2010/5
N2 - We previously demonstrated that prenatal alcohol exposure results in brain defects at different embryonic stages. This study is aimed at characterizing the influence of prenatal alcohol exposure on the levels of several neurotransmitters at early embryonic stage 13 (E13). Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were exposed to either a 25% ethanol derived calorie diet (ALC) or pair-fed (PF) liquid diet from E7 to E13. At E13, fetal brains were collected from dams of the ALC and PF groups. Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was then used to evaluate neurotransmitter levels. This approach involved the use of an LC column in conjunction with multiple-reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. Quantitative analyses of catecholamines, idolamine, and amino acid neurotransmitters revealed significant reductions in the levels of dopamine (p=0.004), norepinephrine (p=0.0009), epinephrine (p=0.0002), serotonin (p=0.004), and GABA (p=0.002) in the ALC group compared to the PF group. However, there was no significant change in the levels of glutamate in E13 fetal brains. These findings demonstrate that prenatal alcohol exposure reduces the concentrations of some catecholamines, idolamine, and amino acid neurotransmitters in E13 fetal brains. This study suggests that alterations of selective neurotransmitters may be the cause of abnormalities in brain function and behavior found in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
AB - We previously demonstrated that prenatal alcohol exposure results in brain defects at different embryonic stages. This study is aimed at characterizing the influence of prenatal alcohol exposure on the levels of several neurotransmitters at early embryonic stage 13 (E13). Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were exposed to either a 25% ethanol derived calorie diet (ALC) or pair-fed (PF) liquid diet from E7 to E13. At E13, fetal brains were collected from dams of the ALC and PF groups. Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was then used to evaluate neurotransmitter levels. This approach involved the use of an LC column in conjunction with multiple-reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. Quantitative analyses of catecholamines, idolamine, and amino acid neurotransmitters revealed significant reductions in the levels of dopamine (p=0.004), norepinephrine (p=0.0009), epinephrine (p=0.0002), serotonin (p=0.004), and GABA (p=0.002) in the ALC group compared to the PF group. However, there was no significant change in the levels of glutamate in E13 fetal brains. These findings demonstrate that prenatal alcohol exposure reduces the concentrations of some catecholamines, idolamine, and amino acid neurotransmitters in E13 fetal brains. This study suggests that alterations of selective neurotransmitters may be the cause of abnormalities in brain function and behavior found in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
KW - Dopamine
KW - Fetal alcohol exposure
KW - GABA
KW - LC-MS
KW - Norepinephrine
KW - Serotonin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77951024166&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2010.01.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2010.01.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 20123123
AN - SCOPUS:77951024166
VL - 28
SP - 263
EP - 269
JO - International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
JF - International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
SN - 0736-5748
IS - 3
ER -