Aspirin augments alcohol in restricting brain growth in the neonatal rat.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the microencephaly in rats resulting from early postnatal alcohol exposure is altered by a concurrent administration of aspirin. Neonatal rats were artificially reared from postnatal day 4 to postnatal day 10, a period of the brain growth spurt in the rat that is similar to the third trimester of human brain development. The alcohol-treated groups received 6.6 g/kg/day of ethanol and either 0.0, 12.5, 25.0 or 50.0 mg/kg/day of aspirin in a milk solution. Control groups received either 0.0 (gastrostomy control), 12.5, 25.0 or 50.0 mg/kg/day of aspirin in a milk solution free of alcohol. Brainstem, cerebellum and total brain weights were measured on postnatal day 10. Alcohol alone significantly reduced the mean total brain weight, cerebellum and brainstem weight by 19.8%, 23.1% and 12.2%, respectively, relative to gastrostomy controls. A significant interaction between ethanol and aspirin was observed for total brain weight. The mean total brain weight of the group receiving both alcohol and 50 mg/kg/day aspirin was significantly lower than all other experimental groups and was reduced 29.5%, relative to gastrostomy controls. The highest dose of aspirin alone significantly reduced cerebellar weight, relative to gastrostomy controls but had no effect on brainstem or total brain weight.