Fetal Alcohol Exposure Impairs the Function of Hypothalamic Proopiomelanocortin Neurons via a Circadian Mechanism

Long-term alcohol exposure during the developmental period has pronounced effects on the genome, particularly related to the clock and stress genes that interact to maintain the rhythm of the body’s stress response system. One of these clock genes, Period 2, plays a key role in the mediation of alcohol effects on the interaction between the circadian system and stress axis. The stress response system involves the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands, as well as the hormones they secrete and the physiological functions they govern, for example, behavioral response, metabolic function, and immune function. Alcohol consumption during the developmental period influences the activity of the stress axis at multiple levels, one of which involves the alteration of the expression of the proopiomelanocortin gene, which is controlled by the circadian gene Period 2. Finally, epigenetic changes of proopiomelanocortin and Period 2 genes, critical for stress and circadian regulations, may serve as biological measures of prenatal ethanol exposure risk.