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Introduction to Apoptosis (Part Six)

By: Lionel Perez

Valenzuela Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is the main drug of abuse.

But not only affects young people and adults, infants also suffer from its effects, and approximately 1% of births in the U.S. have complications due to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).

The SFA is a set of symptoms and signs affect children born to mothers who drank alcohol during pregnancy. They are generally low birth weight, small and often have birth defects and slow growth. The most serious problem is mental retardation.

grow When behavior problems are often severe, as evidenced by the statistics (94% of children with FAS have mental problems.)

FAS is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation.

For years the reasons why alcohol produced malformations were kept in the dark. However, after 2000, it was established that the damage result was that alcohol produced a distortion of the natural process of apoptosis. As we saw

apoptosis is crucial for normal development. It is a way to kill tumor cells and immune system cells that would otherwise attack the body itself is also so disposed of neurons that fail to make synapses with one another. When cells grow old, are eliminated by apoptosis in a natural way and can be replaced by new cells.

So what is the effect of alcohol on the nervous system of young embryos?

Kathleen Sulik, Martina Cartwright, Susan Smith and Marieta Heaton (all women!), Are the researchers who discovered over twenty years of research as alcohol induces the apoptosis of neurons (apoptotic neurodegeneration in the SFA).

Alcohol not only causes neurodegeneration and impaired nervous over in the system, but also extensive malformations of the face and skull (above the pictures of children with SFA).

More recently John Olney more accurately described the deleterious effects of alcohol. Alcohol, has powerful effects on the nervous system depressants, that's why they act in two ways, diminishes the power of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and enhances the power depressant the neurotransmitter GABA.

words, all the actions of alcohol have in common decrease neuronal activity. This results in a fatal nervous system formation. Since neurons interpret this lack of activity-induced by alcohol, as a message of "kill" because they would not be forming synapses with other neurons, either in timing or in the correct sequence. Therefore apoptosis neurons are confused by this message in error caused by alcohol.

remember that the human brain neurons can have thousands of synaptic contacts and it is logical that the neurons that do not join this network, in the sequence and at the right time activate an apoptotic program.

Even small amounts of alcohol temporarily cause apoptosis of hundreds of thousands or millions of neurons. Because the brain of the developing fetus is particularly susceptible to this form of action.

Alcohol has these toxic effects at very early pregnancy (second week), long before a woman knows she is pregnant. Susceptibility to alcohol's toxic effects on neurons and other cells in formation, increases or decreases during pregnancy.

Considering that even with moderate drinking habits already kills neurons, it is advisable not to drink at all during pregnancy.

Our brain continues to mature and form new synapses, to three years or so (and continue forming new synapses until they die). So until three years after birth babies should not drink. Alcohol is not a game for a developing brain. Consider that adult drinkers looking for other people drink, including very young children who stay with consequences for the rest of their lives.