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Dr. Hannigan is exploring the link between maternal diet and a child’s risk for developing fetal alcohol syndrome. |
If a woman abuses alcohol during her pregnancy, the child is at risk for developing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). If she is a moderate drinker, however, the risk for FAS is unclear. A fetus exposed to moderate levels of alcohol may suffer from a wide range of problems including mental retardation, neurological disorders, attention deficits, learning disabilities, or perhaps no problems at all.
John Hannigan, PhD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is conducting research to determine why prenatal alcohol exposure affects children differently. With a new grant from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Hannigan is exploring poor maternal nutrition as a risk factor associated with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
"We don’t know what factors put certain fetuses at risk for the damaging effects of alcohol exposure. We do know that the child’s risk in general is associated with the mother’s unhealthy dietary habits, poor nutrient intake and compromised nutrient absorption and metabolism," said Dr. Hannigan. "Our research will investigate how alcohol interacts with dietary fatty acids to affect pregnancy outcome."
Lipid nutrition is important because certain fatty acids are associated with key prenatal and postnatal development including maturation of the central nervous system, the retina, and cognitive and behavioral outcomes as well. Furthermore, alcohol can profoundly affect lipid metabolism and is known to alter saturated fatty acids and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Animal studies have also shown that levels of arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, two fatty acids essential to normal brain development can be decreased after chronic alcohol exposure. Decreases in blood levels of these fatty acids have also been detected in alcoholics. With support from the NIH grant and the expertise of the research team in the antenatal clinic (under the direction of Dr. Susan Martier), Dr. Hannigan will study the relationships among dietary intake and blood levels of certain essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, alcohol use patterns before pregnancy, and pregnancy outcome in women whose fetuses are at risk for FAS and other related complications.
There are perhaps dozens of related questions of equal importance, but which gets asked next depends on the results of this project, says Dr. Hannigan. After this two-three year study of dietary risk factors associated with FAS, the long-term objectives are potentially far-reaching. Drs. Hannigan, Martier and Janice Whitty hope to expand this project to assess children’s cognitive function and behavior in later years; to perhaps identify dietary supplements, vitamins or medications to limit risk for fetal alcohol effects; and to develop educational programs for pregnant mothers about the importance of nutrition. Ultimately, the goal of all these studies is the prevention of alcohol-related birth defects.