Study: Consuming alcohol during pregnancy significantly alters structure of baby’s brain

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Drinking during pregnancy alters the structure of an unborn baby's brain, warns new research.

It can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - a range of developmental problems caused by exposure to booze in the womb.

The findings were based on 500 moms-to-be in Austria referred for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan for clinical reasons.

Lead author Professor Gregor Kasprian said: "Foetal alcohol syndrome is a worldwide problem in countries where alcohol is freely available.

"It's estimated 9.8 percent of all pregnant women are consuming alcohol during pregnancy - and that number is likely underestimated."

Based on the National Institutes of Health-funded community studies using physical examinations, experts estimate that the full range of FASDs in the United States and some Western European countries might number as high as 1% to 5% of the population.

Rates rise to around four in ten in the UK. Four times more children in Britain suffer booze-related birth defects than the global average.

The Medical University of Vienna team found significant changes in the brains of fetuses exposed to alcohol compared to healthy controls.

Prof Kasprian said: "It appears alcohol exposure during pregnancy puts the brain on a path of development that diverges from a normal trajectory.

"Foetal MRI is a very powerful tool to characterize brain development not only in genetic conditions but also acquired conditions that result from exposure to toxic agents."

In particular, volume in two areas known as the corpus callosum and periventricular zone increased and decreased respectively.

The former is a large bundle of more than 200 million nerve fibers that communicate between the right and left sides of the brain.

Abnormalities have been identified in maltreated children. The latter is at the base - and is the brain's neuron 'factory.'

Co-author Dr. Marlene Stuempflen said: "One of the main hallmarks of our study is we investigated so many smaller sub-compartments of the brain."

FAS is the most severe form of a group of conditions called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Babies may have specific physical features such as small eyes, a thin upper lip and a smooth area under the nose.

Other problems include mental retardation, malformations of bones and major organs, inhibited growth and central nervous system illnesses.

They also suffer poor motor skills, higher mortality rates, and difficulties with learning, memory, social interaction and attention span.

One in 70 pregnancies with alcohol exposure results in FAS, said Prof Kasprian.

In the first study of its kind, 51 participants admitted consuming alcohol during their pregnancy.

They answered a US surveillance project called PRAMS (Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) and another questionnaire known as T-ACE that screens for risky drinking.

Prof Kasprian said: "We provided a safe environment where women could feel comfortable honestly answering the questions."

The researchers combined statistical analysis with super-resolution imaging that created one dataset to re-construct each fetal brain.

They completed 12 different brain structures computing total and segment volumes of specific compartments.

Dr. Marlene Stuempflen said: "This is the first time a prenatal imaging study has been able to quantify these early alcohol-associated changes."

The corpus callosum is the main connection between the brain's left and right sides.

Dr. Stuempflen said it's fitting this very central structure is affected since the clinical symptoms of FAS disorders are highly diverse.

They cannot be pinpointed to one specific substructure of the brain, she explained.

Dr. Stuempflen said: "The changes found in the periventricular zone - where all neurons are born - also reflect a global effect on brain development and function."

Identifying a thicker corpus callosum in the alcohol-positive fetuses was surprising - as it's thinner in infants with FAS disorders.

Prof Kasprian said: "There are many post-natal studies on infants exposed to alcohol.

"We wanted to see how early it's possible to find changes in the fetal brain as a result of alcohol exposure."

Some of the fetal MRIs had to be eliminated for structural brain anomalies and poor image quality.

The final group consisted of 26 scans from 24 alcohol-positive fetuses and a control group of 52 gender- and age-matched healthy peers.

At the time of imaging, the fetuses ranged in age between 20 and 37 weeks.

The UK's Department of Health says the risk of harm to a baby is "likely to be low if you have drunk only small amounts of alcohol before you knew you were pregnant or during pregnancy."

The NHS says a baby exposed to alcohol in the womb can be affected in a number of ways. It can also result in the loss of a pregnancy.

That can occur because alcohol in the mother's blood passes through the placenta. A baby cannot process it in the same way.

This means it can damage cells in the baby's brain, spinal cord and other parts of the body.

The NHS states FAS is "completely avoidable if you don't drink alcohol while you're pregnant."

It warns there is no proven "safe" level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

It adds: "Not drinking at all is the safest approach."

The study was presented in Chicago at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.