• Energy Research

Chronic ethanol exposure during the fetal period alters spontaneous neuronal discharge, excitatory and inhibitory amino acid neurotransmission and neuronal sensitivity to ethanol in the adult brain. However, nothing is known about the effects of such exposure on the central respiratory rhythmic network, which is highly dependent on ethanol‐sensitive amino acid neurotransmission. In 3‐ to 4‐week‐old rats, we investigated (1) the effects of chronic ethanol exposure (10% v/v as only source of fluid) during gestation and lactation on phrenic (Phr) and hypoglossal (XII) nerve activity using anin situpreparation and on spontaneous breathing at rest in unanaesthetized animals using plethysmography; (2) the sensitivity of the respiratory system to ethanol re‐exposurein situ; and (3) the phrenic nerve response to muscimol, a GABAAreceptor agonist, applied systemically in anin situpreparation. In control rats, ethanol (10–80 mm) induced a concentration‐dependent decrease in the amplitude of both XII and Phr motor outflows. At 80 mmethanol, the amplitude of the activity of the two nerves displayed a difference in sensitivity to ethanol and respiratory frequency increased as a result of shortening of postinspiratory duration period. After chronic ethanol exposure, respiratory frequency was significantly reduced by 43%in situand by 23% in unanaesthetized animals, as a result of a selective increase in expiratory duration. During Phr burst, the ramp was steeper, revealing modification of inspiratory patterning. Interestingly that re‐exposure to ethanolin situelicited a dramatic inhibitory effect. At 80 mm, ethanol abolished rhythmic XII nerve outflow in all cases and Phr nerve outflow in only 50% of cases. Furthermore, administration of 50 µmmuscimol abolished Phr nerve activity in all control rats, but only in 50% of ethanol‐exposed animals. Our results demonstrate that chronic ethanol exposure at an early stage of brain development depresses breathing in juvenile rats, and sensitizes the respiratory network to re‐exposure to ethanol, which does not seem to involve GABAergic neurotransmission.

Little is known about the effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy, which is responsible for fetal alcohol syndrome and the respiratory network functions, especially respiratory network plasticity (e.g., long-term facilitation) elicited after repeated short-lasting hypoxic episodes. The mechanism of induction of respiratory long-term facilitation involves 5-HT(2A/2C) receptors, which also participate in the response to hypoxia. Because fetal alcohol exposure is known to reduce serotonin centrally, and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, we hypothesized that alcohol exposure during gestation might impair respiratory long-term facilitation after hypoxic episodes.To analyze the effects of prenatal and postnatal alcohol exposure on respiratory long-term facilitation in 5- to 7-day-old rats.Respiratory frequency and amplitude were measured in vivo and in an in vitro rhythmic medullary slice before and after three hypoxia episodes or three applications of a 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor agonist in vitro. 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor mRNA was measured from the slice.Alcohol exposure impaired respiratory long-term facilitation and induced long-term depression of respiration in both in vivo and in vitro models. Alcohol altered 5-HT(2A/2C) mRNA expression, although 5-HT(2A/2C) agonist efficacy was not altered in increasing rhythmic activity in slices. However, a higher concentration of 5-HT(2A/2C) agonist was necessary to induce transient facilitation in slices from ethanol-exposed animals, suggesting disturbances in induction and maintenance mechanisms of respiratory long-term facilitation.Respiratory facilitation after repeated hypoxia was converted to long-term depression in rats treated with alcohol in utero. Alcohol exposure during pregnancy may therefore induce long-term maladaptive behavior of the respiratory system in neonates.

Acute ethanol depresses respiration, but little is known about chronic ethanol exposure during gestation and breathing, while the deleterious effects of ethanol on CNS development have been clearly described. In a recent study we demonstrated that pre‐ and postnatal ethanol exposure induced low minute ventilation in juvenile rats. The present study analysed in juvenile rats the respiratory response to hypoxiain vivoby plethysmography and the phrenic (Phr) nerve response to ischaemiain situ. Glycinergic neurotransmission was assessedin situwith strychnine application and [3H]strychnine binding experiments performed in the medulla. After chronic ethanol exposure, hyperventilation during hypoxia was bluntedin vivo.In situPhr nerve response to ischaemia was also impaired, while gasping activity occurred earlier and recovery was delayed. Strychnine applicationsin situ(0.05–0.5 μm) demonstrated a higher sensitivity of expiratory duration in ethanol‐exposed animals compared to control animals. Moreover, [3H]strychnine binding density was increased after ethanol and was associated with higher affinity. Furthermore, 0.2 μmstrychnine in ethanol‐exposed animals restored the low basal Phr nerve frequency, but also the Phr nerve response to ischaemia and the time to recovery, while gasping activity appeared even earlier with a higher frequency. Polycythaemia was present after ethanol exposure whereas lung and heart weights were not altered. We conclude that chronic ethanol exposure during rat brain development (i) induced polycythaemia to compensate for low minute ventilation at rest; (ii) impaired the respiratory network adaptive response to low oxygen because of an increase in central glycinergic tonic inhibitions, and (iii) did not affect gasping mechanisms. We suggest that ethanol exposure during early life can be a risk factor for the newborn respiratory adaptive mechanisms to a low oxygen environment.

The effects of prenatal exposure to some drugs of abuse, such as nicotine, on breathing function have been clearly established. However, the case of alcohol (ethanol), the most widely consume drug of abuse, remains unknown. Prenatal ethanol consumption in humans may lead to fetal alcohol syndrome and although the effect of chronic prenatal ethanol exposure (CPEE) on cognitive function is frequently studied, nothing is known about CPEE's effects on breathing as compared with other drugs of abuse. The role of nicotine for example, in human neonatal pathology, such as sudden infant death syndrome, is acknowledged today, whereas the full scope of CPEE's role is only recently emerging. Here, we review preclinical investigations on the effects of CPEE on breathing in different animal models, including possible mechanisms of adaptation to CPEE. These recent preclinical studies shed new light on a widely used drug of abuse and should facilitate the understanding of the danger posed by alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Perinatal exposure to drugs of abuse, including alcohol (ethanol), is known to impinge the development of respiratory function. However, most studies described the short-term effects of these exposures, focusing mostly on the early postnatal life. After exposure to ethanol during gestation and lactation we have previously shown that 3-4 week-old rat exhibit chronic hypoventilation and an altered response to hypoxia at the end of ethanol exposure. However, whether these deficits are reversible following ethanol withdrawal remained unknown. Here, we investigated through whole-body plethysmography the respiratory activity of 2 months-old rats exposed to ethanol from gestation to weaning followed by one month of ethanol withdrawal. After ethanol withdrawal, rats persistently exhibited a significant reduction in respiratory frequency without change in tidal volume associated to a lower arterial blood oxygen content. In addition, the response to hypoxia in these rats was reduced whereas the response to hypercapnia remained unaltered. In conclusion perinatal exposure to ethanol in rats, unlike exposure to cocaine, morphine or nicotine, is characterized by selective alterations of basal respiratory activity and chemosensitivity that persist long after withdrawal.

We have shown previously that mice lacking the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) generated on a CD1 background self‐administer more ethanol and exhibit hyposensitivity to acute ethanol. We aimed to investigate if the increased propensity of A2A−/− mice to consume ethanol is associated with an altered sensitivity in the motivational properties of ethanol in the conditioned place preference (CPP) and conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigms and with an altered development of sensitization to the locomotor effects of ethanol. We also tested their sensitivity to the anxiolytic effects of ethanol. Our results show that A2A−/− mice produced on a CD1 background displayed a reduced ethanol‐induced CPP and an increased sensitivity to the anxiolytic and locomotor‐stimulant effects of ethanol, but they did not show alteration in ethanol‐induced CTA and locomotor sensitization. Ethanol‐induced CPP, ethanol consumption and the locomotor effects of ethanol were also tested in A2A−/− mice produced on a C57BL/6J background. Our results emphasized the importance of the genetic background because alteration in ethanol consumption and preference, ethanol‐induced CPP and locomotor‐stimulant effects were not found in knockout mice produced on the alcohol‐preferring C57BL/6J genetic background. Finally, the A2AR agonist, 2‐p‐(2‐carboxyethyl)‐phenylethylamino‐5′‐N‐ethylcarboxamidoadenosine hydrochloride (CGS 21680), reduced ethanol consumption and preference in C57BL/6J mice. In conclusion, A2AR deficiency in mice generated on a CD1 background leads to high ethanol consumption that is associated with an increased sensitivity to the locomotor‐stimulant/anxiolytic effects of ethanol and a decrease in ethanol‐induced CPP.