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By David Douglas
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A mutation of an enzyme gene seems to protect the fetus against alcohol consumed by the mother, according to a study of mothers and their infants.
Lead researcher Dr. Sandra W. Jacobson told Reuters Health that "our research has shown that about 20 percent of African American children are born to mothers with a particular genetic (mutation), which makes it less likely that maternal drinking during pregnancy will adversely affect their child's development."
This mutation, she added, "has been shown to be related to the speed with which alcohol is metabolized by the mother. Unfortunately, most African American as well as Caucasian children are not protected by this (mutation) and are, therefore, at risk of developing fetal alcohol effects if their mothers drink heavily or even moderately during pregnancy."
In the Journal of Pediatrics, Jacobson of Wayne State University in Detroit and colleagues report on their study of 263 mother and child pairs. Two hundred fourteen of the women consumed alcohol during pregnancy.
Women with one or two copies of the genetic mutation, termed ADH1B*3, tended to drink less during pregnancy, and their offspring were free of toxic effects. "The negative effects of alcohol exposure were seen only in infants whose mothers lacked" the mutation altogether, the team found.
"Some women who drink during pregnancy will, therefore, give birth to unaffected children," continued Jacobson. "However, others should recognize that this does not mean that they are similarly protected."
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla calls the implications of the study important. What may be "safe" in some women may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes in others.
The findings, he concludes, bolster the recommendation of the US Surgeon General that "the optimal approach to alcohol use in pregnancy is abstinence."
SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, January 2006.
By David Douglas
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A mutation of an enzyme gene seems to protect the fetus against alcohol consumed by the mother, according to a study of mothers and their infants.
Lead researcher Dr. Sandra W. Jacobson told Reuters Health that "our research has shown that about 20 percent of African American children are born to mothers with a particular genetic (mutation), which makes it less likely that maternal drinking during pregnancy will adversely affect their child's development."
This mutation, she added, "has been shown to be related to the speed with which alcohol is metabolized by the mother. Unfortunately, most African American as well as Caucasian children are not protected by this (mutation) and are, therefore, at risk of developing fetal alcohol effects if their mothers drink heavily or even moderately during pregnancy."
In the Journal of Pediatrics, Jacobson of Wayne State University in Detroit and colleagues report on their study of 263 mother and child pairs. Two hundred fourteen of the women consumed alcohol during pregnancy.
Women with one or two copies of the genetic mutation, termed ADH1B*3, tended to drink less during pregnancy, and their offspring were free of toxic effects. "The negative effects of alcohol exposure were seen only in infants whose mothers lacked" the mutation altogether, the team found.
"Some women who drink during pregnancy will, therefore, give birth to unaffected children," continued Jacobson. "However, others should recognize that this does not mean that they are similarly protected."
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla calls the implications of the study important. What may be "safe" in some women may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes in others.
The findings, he concludes, bolster the recommendation of the US Surgeon General that "the optimal approach to alcohol use in pregnancy is abstinence."
SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, January 2006.