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Introduction:The juvenile period, which in the rat extends between weaning and adolescence (equivalent to late human childhood), is a time of high sensitivity to stress. Early stress may increase vulnerability to psychopathology, including alcohol use disorders, yet little is known about how juvenile variable stress (JVS) interacts with other vulnerability factors, such as prenatal ethanol exposure. The brain of the rat at postnatal days -PDs-4–9 is characterized by axonal growth and dendritic arborization, and mimics the development of the human brain during the 3rd trimester. It is still unknown how JVS interacts with ethanol exposure during the third trimester-equivalent of human gestation. Objectives: To analyze the effects of JVS on body weight, alcohol consumption and anxiety in female rats exposed to alcohol on PDs 4-9. Methods: At PDs 4-9, 48 female Wistar ratsreceived ethanol (5.00 g/kg) or sham intubations. These rats were exposed to JVS (restraint, elevated platform and forced swimming) between PDs 26-28. During adolescence, anxietyand ethanol intake were evaluated, via the light-dark box test (LDB) and a single two-bottle ethanol intake test, respectively. Results:Control rats made, in the LDB test, significantly more stretching behaviors towards the white vs. the black side, whereas ethanol-exposed rats made significantly more stretching behaviors towardsthe black vs. the white side. These behaviors were not affected by JVS nor there was significant interaction between stress and ethanol exposure. Likewise, ethanol intake was similar across conditions. Ethanol exposure at PDs4-9 induced a significant bodyweight reduction, yet this effect disappeared at adolescence and was not affected by stress. Discussion:Female neonates exposed to alcohol may exhibit some alterations in risk-taking behaviors. Ethanol treatment induced developmental alterations in termsof body weight but did not alter ethanol drinking. JVS did not interact with these effects of ethanol exposure.
