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Iranian Journal of Pediatrics
Tehran University of Medical Sciences Press
ISSN: 1018-4406 EISSN: 1018-4406
Vol. 18, No. 1, 2008, pp. 5-10
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Bioline Code: pe08001
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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Iranian Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2008, pp. 5-10
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Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on the Developing Kidneys
Assadi, Farahnak
Abstract
Objective:
Clinical and experimental studies strongly suggest that prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with zinc deficiency and impaired renal tubular function. Whether maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes renal tubular cell injury is unknown.
Material & Methods:
Renal function was studied in 8 infants with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and 8 healthy age-matched infants. Renal function and structure were also examined in 11 offspring of rats exposed to alcohol during gestation.
Findings:
Infants with FAS had limited ability to concentrate urine after water restriction (P<0.001) and impaired acidification after acute acid loading (P<0.001) compared to control group. Plasma zinc levels were lower (P<0.001) and urinary zinc excretion was higher (P<0.001) in infants with FAS compared to control infants. Scanning electron microscopic studiesrevealed cytoplasmic mitochondrial hypertrophy and vacuolar structures of the epithelial cells of thecortical collectingducts in the rat kidney following fetal exposure to alcohol.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that offspring of rats exposed to alcohol during fetal life have renal functional and structural abnormalities that may be responsible in the genesis of renal functional abnormalities as described in infants with FAS.
Keywords
Renal tubular dysfunction; Structural renal abnormalities; Fetal alcohol syndrome; Infant
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