Brain disorders in fetal alcohol syndrome.

Intrauterine effect of alcohol on the development of cytomorphological structure of CNS in rats was studied by heterogeneous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The level of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in animals during pregnancy was analyzed. Pronounced damaging effect of alcohol on brain cell in the progeny of alcoholized animals was demonstrated: loosening of nerve cells and degenerative changes in the form of pyknosis and chromatolysis in the cortex, hypothalamus, and cerebellum; subtotal decrease (sometimes complete absence) of neuroendocrine granules. The level of TGF-β1 was significantly increased in alcoholized pregnant females, which can attest to defects of the receptor apparatus of the target cells in both females and the progeny. Thus, the observed peculiarities of TGF-β1 expression are comparable to morphological changes in the brain and can be extrapolated to similar processes in humans (fetal alcohol syndrome).