# Modeling alcohol exposure in gestation and adolescence

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $77,750

## Abstract

Abstract
The CDC reports that ~10% of pregnant women drink alcohol (exposing the fetus to prenatal
alcohol exposure) as do ~26% of 12th grade students (adolescent alcohol exposure). Either
exposure alone induces a variety of persistent outcomes in cognition and proinflammatory
signaling in humans and animal models. Prenatal alcohol exposure is a risk factor for
adolescent and adult drinking, adolescent drinking is a risk factor for adult drinking, and adult
drinking is a risk factor for prenatal alcohol exposure, thereby creating a cycle of exposure and
use that can perpetuate alcohol use disorder and harmful drinking across the lifespan. Emerging
studies show that two developmental insults (“double-hit”) in an individual exacerbate outcomes.
We propose to test the hypothesis that the “double-hit” of prenatal + adolescent alcohol
exposure worsens cognitive outcomes in rodent models and to investigate two potential
mechanisms that underlie these effects: loss of the cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain
that are critical for cognition and gliosis indicative of neuroinflammatory priming. Dr. Mooney’s
lab has experience with the prenatal alcohol exposure model and studying gliosis and Dr.
Robinson’s lab has experience with the adolescent alcohol exposure model and the role of
acetylcholine-positive neurons. This project will generate the “double-hit” model of prenatal +
adolescent alcohol exposure in mice and rats. After phenotyping the effect of exposure on
cognitive behavior, brain sections will be assessed for differences in cholinergic and glial
phenotype. The models developed in this proposal will be of use to us and other researchers to
investigate mechanisms that underlie or contribute to the cycle of alcohol use and exposure
across the lifespan, and understanding the mechanisms will allow identification of therapeutic
targets and optimal windows for interventions to break the cycle.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10790921
- **Project number:** 1R03AA031378-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Sandra M Mooney
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $77,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-03-01 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10790921

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10790921, Modeling alcohol exposure in gestation and adolescence (1R03AA031378-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10790921. Licensed CC0.

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