Journal
BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION
Volume 81, Issue 4, Pages 607-617Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.108.074690
Keywords
epigenetics; ethanol; fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; teratogenesis; toxicology
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Funding
- March of Dimes grant [6-FY0470]
- German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
- University of the Witwatersrand
- South African National Research Foundation
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Ethanol is a classic teratogen capable of inducing a wide range of developmental abnormalities. Studies in animal models suggest that differences in timing and dosage underlie this variability, with three particularly important developmental periods: preconception, preimplantation, and gastrulation. These periods of teratogenesis correlate with peak periods of epigenetic reprogramming which, together with the evidence that ethanol interferes with one-carbon metabolism, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and noncoding RNA, suggests an important role for epigenetic mechanisms in the etiology of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). In addition to a number of testable hypotheses, an epigenetic model suggests that the concept of a fetal alcohol spectrum'' should be expanded to include preconceptional effects.'' This proposal has important public health implications, highlighting the urgency of research into the epigenetic basis of FASDs.
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