New research by the University of Toronto explains how alcohol exposure during pregnancy may increase the risk of developmental disorders.
The study, released in Redox Biology, involved the breast cancer 1 susceptibility protein (BRCA1) and its role in adverse developmental outcomes. The study used rodents for their experimentation.
According to the study: “BRCA1-deficient mice who were exposed to a single dose of alcohol during the fetal period of development exhibited behavior that differed from animals with normal levels of BRCA1 following a fetal alcohol exposure, suggestive of a neurodevelopmental disorder.”
“These results give a clearer understanding of how a BRCA1 deficiency may enhance the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders following a single alcohol exposure in the fetal period of development,” the findings say.
The study was published in December 2021.