One in 13 women consume alcoholic beverages during pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By doing so, they increase the likelihood of having a miscarriage, stillbirth, or giving birth to a baby with defects or developmental disabilities.
Babies who experience physical, behavioral, and cognitive abnormalities, due to their mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy, are classified to have fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).
Anna Bukiya, an associate professor in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s (UTHSC) Department of Pharmacology, will explore the effects of FASDs through a new project titled “Fetal Cerebrovascular eCB System as a Target of Maternal Alcohol Consumption.”
Bukiya will use a $393,750 grant she was awarded from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study how alcohol consumption during pregnancy alters development of the fetal brain.
Along with other representatives from UTHSC’s departments of Pharmacology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Comparative Medicine, Bukiya hopes to determine the effects of alcohol fetal cerebral circulation and function of fetal cerebral arteries.
“We hypothesize that maternal alcohol consumption alters cerebral artery function in the fetus,” said Bukiya in a statement. “Moreover, we will determine the mechanism of this alcohol effect. We know that our body produces special lipids — endocannabinoids. We think that alcohol may change the amount of endocannabinoids and may also change the way by which endocannabinoids communicate with membrane proteins called ion channels. These are unknown waters. Our exploratory work may open new horizons in understanding the pathophysiology of FASD. Ultimately, we hope to find a cure for this condition.”
According to a UTHSC press release for the grant, “the mechanisms of FASD are poorly understood,” and “many studies focus on the consequences of maternal drinking on fetal neuronal cells in the brain.”
However, the “Fetal Cerebrovascular eCB System as a Target of Maternal Alcohol Consumption” project will explore arterial function. This is crucial because arteries supply oxygen and nutrients to the developing brain.