US Study: The Risks From Alcohol and Nicotine Consumption During Pregnancy

Source from:  Vapingpost 12/03/2020

Published in the Nature Journal Scientific Reports, the study titled, “Investigating the influence of perinatal nicotine and alcohol exposure on the genetic profiles of dopaminergic neurons in the VTA using miRNA–mRNA analysis,” found that the mix of alcohol and nicotine significantly alters the gene regulatory pathways of the developing fetus.

“The alterations of these pathways are crucial since they are involved in neural network formation, cell development and communication,” reports Metin Akay, founding chair and John S. Dunn Endowed Chair Professor of biomedical engineering. “Among pathways in which many genes and miRNAs were significantly altered in response to perinatal nicotine/alcohol co-exposure are dopamine cell growth, neuronal migration, neuronal axon guidance, neurotrophin signaling and glutamatergic synapse.”

Addictive substances, in this case nicotine and alcohol, are known to act on the brain’s reward system by triggering the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, through the activation of the mesocorticolimbic DA system, also known as the reward pathway.

“A characteristic structure of dopamine neurons are the long axons that project to different regions of the brain to build functional networks, which results in pathways such as the mesocorticolimbic DA system,” said Akay. “It is highly likely that axon guidance is modulated in the newborn after perinatal substance abuse and may cause faulty assembly of the network.”