Paternal alcohol exposures program intergenerational hormetic effects on offspring fetoplacental growth.

ABSTRACT: Hormesis refers to graded adaptive responses to harmful environmental stimuli where low-level toxicant exposures stimulate tissue growth and responsiveness while, in contrast, higher-level exposures induce toxicity. Although the intergenerational inheritance of programmed hormetic growth responses is described in plants and insects, researchers have yet to observe this phenomenon in mammals. Using a physiologically relevant mouse model, we demonstrate that chronic preconception paternal alcohol exposures program nonlinear, dose-dependent changes in offspring fetoplacental growth. Our studies identify an inverse j-shaped curve with a threshold of 2.4 g/Kg per day; below this threshold, paternal ethanol exposures induce programmed increases in placental growth, while doses exceeding this poi

SUBMITTER: Thomas KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9405020 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature