Ontogeny of suckling behavior in rats prenatally exposed to alcohol.

The effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on nipple attachment behavior was studied at a number of ages in rat pups whose mothers consumed liquid diets containing 35% or 0% ethanol-derived calories (EDC) or standard lab chow during pregnancy. In the first experiment, nondeprived pups were tested in groups of three (one from each of the prenatal treatment groups) for nipple attachment to an anesthetized lab chow dam. The second experiment examined the influence of the type of test dam (35% EDC, 0% EDC, or lab chow) on nipple attachment behavior. Finally, experiment three evaluated the possibility that the data from the preceeding experiments were the result of either testing the offspring in triads or alcohol-induced alterations in maternal behavior. Rat pups from all three groups reared by their biological mothers and a group of 35% EDC offspring fostered at birth to lab chow surrogate mothers were tested alone rather than in triads. The data from all three experiments clearly indicated an age-related pattern of nipple attachment behavior; the latency to attach was shortest in 6- to 12-day-old pups and increased rapidly from 13 to 21 days of age. Prenatal exposure to alcohol significantly increased the latency to attach to the nipple and the rank order of attachment at the younger ages (three to nine days of age) but not in the older animals. Also, the prenatal effect of alcohol was independent of the type of dam to which testing was conducted, the social interaction involved in testing triads, or fostering procedures. These results suggest that prenatal alcohol exposure can interfere with the development of normal suckling behavior, which might influence normal growth.