Perinatal exposure to alcohol: implications for lung development and disease

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Danielle Giliberti, Emory University; Sowmya Mohan, Emory University; Lou Ann Brown, Emory University; Theresa Gauthier, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-03
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prrv.2012.05.005
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Paediatric Respiratory Reviews
• ISSN: 1526-0542
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 17
• End Page: 21
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported in part by NIAAA 5T32AA013528-10 (DG), 1 F32 AA019880-01 (SSM), 1P50 AA013757 (LAB, TWG), 1R01AA016348 (LAB, TWG), and the Emory Children's Lung Developmental Biology Centre (LAB, TWG).
• Keywords: immunity; infection; Foetal alcohol; lung; pregnancy; reactive oxygen species
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Health Sciences, Immunology

Abstract

In utero alcohol exposure dramatically increases the risk of premature delivery. However, the majority of premature and term newborns exposed to alcohol remain undetected by medical caregivers. There is a desperate need for reliable and accurate biomarkers of alcohol exposure for the term and premature newborn population. The inability to identify the exposed newborn severely limits our understanding of alcohol's pathophysiological effects on developing organs such as the lung. This chapter will review potential advancements in future biomarkers of alcohol exposure for the newborn population. We will discuss alcohol's effects on redox homeostasis and cellular development of the neonatal lung. Finally, we will present the evidence describing in utero alcohol's derangement of innate and adaptive immunity and risk for infectious complications in the lung. Continued investigations into the identification and understanding of the mechanisms of alcohol-induced alterations in the premature lung will advance the care of this vulnerable patient population.