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Ethanol-induced chromosomal abnormalities at conception

Nature volume 302, pages 258–260 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Preliminary findings have indicated that mouse eggs exposed briefly in vivo or in vitro to a dilute solution of ethanol activate parthenogenetically1,2. Cytogenetic analysis of the first-cleavage chromosomes of haploid parthenogenetic embryos indicated that up to 20% of this population were aneuploid as a result of non-disjunction2. Anaesthetics also can induce parthenogenesis of rodent eggs3–5, and in studies using anaesthetics6, colchicine3,7–9 and colcemid10, abnormal chromosome segregation and heteroploidy of rodent embryos have been observed. I now report that when recently mated female mice are given a dilute solution of ethanol by mouth, non-disjunction can be induced in the female-derived, but apparently not in the male-derived, chromosome set of fertilized eggs. Taken together, these findings suggest that ethanol consumption (as well as exposure to other ‘spindle-acting’ agents11,12) at the time of conception may be the cause of certain types of chromosomal defects commonly observed in human spontaneous abortions.

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  1. Department of .Anatomy, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK

    M. H. Kaufman

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  1. M. H. Kaufman
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Kaufman, M. Ethanol-induced chromosomal abnormalities at conception. Nature 302, 258–260 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302258a0

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