A rat model (using a semipurified diet) of the fetal alcohol syndrome.

A semipurified liquid diet was used to develop a chronic rat model of the fetal alcohol syndrome. Control female rats gained weight normally, reproduced normally, and gave birth to normal litters on this diet. Increased neonatal mortality, decreased neonatal weights, and altered sex ratios were observed in offspring of experimental alcoholic animals. Preliminary histological results include a mild delay in cell lamination patterns in the cerebral cortex at 4 days postnatal in alcoholic offspring as well as decreased formation of dendritic spines at 7 days postnatal.