Effect of Low Doses Consumption of Alcohol on Rat's Fetal Liver – A Histological Study

Background and Objective: Alcohol is a teratogenic agent for humans and can easily pass through the placenta. Low doses of alcohol are commonly found in alcoholic drinks, therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the histological changes of fetal rat livers influenced by low doses of alcohol consumption. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, pregnant female rats were divided into a control group and three experimental groups which were on a diet of ۵%, ۱۰% and ۲۰% of alcohol in their drinking water. The specified doses of alcohol were delivered from the ۸th day of pregnancy until the ۲۰th day. On the ۲۱st day of pregnancy, the fetuses were surgically removed from the motherchr('۳۹')s uterus and the livers of the fetuses were removed with the help of a stereo microscope. Following fixing, processing and sectioning, the fetal livers were stained using H&E and were studied under a light microscope. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and ANOVA. Results: Alcohol doses of ۱۰% and ۲۰% significantly increased histopathological liver factors (p<۰.۰۰۱). But a ۵% dose of alcohol didnchr('۳۹')t have a significant effect on liver histology. Conclusion: Alcohol usage during pregnancy, even at low doses, may lead to pathologic changes in the liver of a developing rat fetus. A ۵% dose of alcohol does not lead to significant pathologic changes in the histology of the fetal rat liver, while doses of ۱۰% and ۲۰% of alcohol significantly increases inflammatory factors in histological studies.

Keywords:

Alcohol , Pregnancy , Fetus , Liver , Histology