Protective Effects of the Alcohol Dehydrogenase-ADH1B Allele in Children Exposed to Alcohol During Pregnancy

Objectives

To examine alcohol use for mothers with and without an ADH1B^∗3 allele and the moderating effects of the maternal and child ADH1B^∗3 allele on a broad range of infant and 7.5-year outcomes.

Study design

Blood samples from 263 black mother/child pairs (217 mothers and 239 children) were analyzed to determine incidence of the ADH1B allele and the relation of the maternal allele to pregnancy drinking assessed at every prenatal clinic visit. Moderating effects of ADH1B were examined by dichotomizing the moderator variable and performing regression analyses on the 2 groups.

Results

Pregnancy drinking at conception was less frequent in the presence of the ADH1B^∗3 allele, and virtually no adverse effects were found in children whose mothers had at least one ADH1B^∗3 allele. By contrast to the maternal allele, we found no consistent pattern of greater vulnerability in children lacking the ADH1B^∗3 allele.

Conclusions

These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the maternal ADH1B^∗3 allele provides some protection to the fetus from prenatal alcohol exposure.

AA, Absolute alcohol, BAC, Blood alcohol concentration, CPT, Continuous Performance Test, FAS, Fetal alcohol syndrome, FASD, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, FD, Freedom from distractibility, FTII, Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, MAST, Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, MDI, Mental Development Index, RT, Reaction time, TRF, Teacher Report Form, VExP, Visual Expectancy Paradigm, WISC-III, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition