Lack of lead effects on fetal development and offspring learning when combined with alcohol in the Long-Evans rat

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of alcohol and lead during pregnancy in rats. Our purpose was to see if lead, as lead acetate, would influence the alcohol effect already known to exist. In the first study, pregnant Long-Evans rats received lead (as lead acetate), alcohol (20% w/v), or lead plus alcohol once a day on gestation days (GD) 10-20. On GD 20, when animals were sacrificed, mean blood alcohol levels were consistently higher for the lead-plus-alcohol-dosed groups compared to alcohol alone, but these two groups did not differ in maternal weight gain, percent resorptions, litter size, or fetal weight. Mean blood lead levels were not consistently higher in the lead-plus-alcohol groups compared to lead only, but the lead-plus-alcohol groups differed significantly from the lead-only groups at higher doses in the previously mentioned parameters. The lead-only groups did not differ from vehicle controls in any parameter in spite of blood lead levels as high as 300 micrograms/dl. In the second experiment, animals given a combination of alcohol and lead did not differ in activity, passive avoidance, or active avoidance learning compared to animals given alcohol or lead alone. Animals given lead only or the combination of lead plus alcohol had longer first trial latencies in the passive avoidance test. The data indicate that neither lead nor alcohol attenuates or potentiates each other's effects on reproduction or learning behavior in the Long-Evans rat even at high blood lead levels.