Alcohol as an early life stressor: epigenetics, metabolic, neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral implications
Ethanol exposure during gestation is an early life stressor that profoundly dysregulates structure and functions of the embryonal nervous system, altering the cognitive and behavioral development. Such dysregulation is also achieved by epigenetic mechanisms, which, altering the chromatin structure, redraw the entire pattern of gene expression. In parallel, an oxidative stress response at the cellular level and a global upregulation of neuroendocrine stress response, regulated by the HPA axis, exist and persist in adulthood.