Hydrocephalus following prenatal exposure to ethanol

Pregnant rats were administered a liquid diet containing 5% (w/v) ethanol between gestational days 10 and 21, and the brains of nine offspring were examined at 8 weeks of age. Two ethanol-treated offspring showed obvious hydrocephalus characterized by markedly enlarged lateral ventricles. Most of the other ethanol-treated rats only showed a slight enlargement of the lateral ventricles. An ethanol-treated offspring showed no neuropathological signs of hydrocephalus. Histological observation of the hydrocephalic brains revealed dilation of the lateral ventricles, loosely bundled corpus callosum, hypoplasia of the septum and fimbria, and thinning of the cerebral cortices. There were no differences in the shape of the third ventricle and aqueduct between hydrocephalic and non-hydrocephalic rats. Ectopic cell clusters were found on the surface of the lateral ventricle and in the interventricular foramen in ethanol-treated rats with hydrocephalus. However, leptomeningeal heterotopias were found on the cortical surface in ethanol-exposed rats independently of whether or not they showed hydrocephalus. Thus, heterotopias within the ventricles may be related to the genesis of hydrocephalus following prenatal ethanol exposure. However, whether they could be a direct cause of the hydrocephalus is uncertain as they seem to be not enough large to block the current of the cerebrospinal fluid. We also examined the expression of L1, a cell adhesion molecule suspected of involvement in the genesis of hydrocephalus after prenatal ethanol exposure, in 1-day-old rats. Western blot analysis using specific antibody against L1 showed no significant change in L1 protein expression in ethanol-exposed rats. These data suggest that L1 protein expression is not affected by ethanol.