Impact of Gestational Alcohol Intake on the Hippocampal Cells and Anxiety-related Behavior of Wistar Rats

Abstract

Alcohol is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances worldwide, with increasing reports of consumption during pregnancy. The hippocampus is one of the brain regions most vulnerable to its effects. However, there is a paucity of research on the histomorphometric and behavioural effects of short-duration gestational exposure. This study investigated the impact of gestational alcohol intake on the hippocampus and anxiety-related behaviour in Wistar rats. Ten pregnant adult female Wistar rats weighing 142–181 g were randomly assigned to two groups. The control group (Group A) received distilled water orally, while the treated group (Group B) received 0.5 mL/kg body weight of 12% ethanol orally once daily for seven days. Anxiety-related behaviour was assessed using the elevated plus maze (EPM), with the time spent in and entries into the open and closed arms recorded. The hippocampus was dissected, weighed, and processed for haematoxylin and eosin staining. Body weight, relative organ weight, hippocampal cell count, and cell size were determined. Data were expressed as the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM), with P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Group B animals showed a significant reduction in mean body weight and a slight increase in relative hippocampal weight compared with Group A. Hippocampal cell count was significantly reduced, whereas mean cell size increased in Group B compared with Group A. The neurobehavioural assessment showed that Group A confined all exploratory activity to the closed arms, with no open-arm entries, whereas Group B spent measurable time in and made entries into the open arms, indicating reduced anxiety-like behaviour. These findings show that short-duration gestational ethanol exposure alters hippocampal cell number and size and reduces anxiety-related behaviour, identifying the hippocampus as an important structural target of alcohol-induced neuroanatomical disruption.