Effect of prenatal exposure to ethanol on development of the thymus.

The effect of maternal alcohol consumption on development of the fetal thymus was studied in C57BL/6 mice. Female mice were fed a complete liquid diet containing 25% ethanol-derived calories (or a control diet) both before and during pregnancy. Significantly reduced fetal weight (a characteristic feature of fetal alcohol syndrome) was noted in 18- and 19-day-old fetuses of alcohol-fed mice. The thymuses of fetal mice exposed prenatally to ethanol were reduced both in cell number and proliferative response to Concanavalin A plus a source of interleukin 2.