The results of an Australian study shoes that zinc may prove effective to decrease birth defect risk, which is associated with alcohol consumption, during pregnancy.
The study has been carried on mice and it will be published in print issue of the Journal Clinical & Experimental Research on Alcoholism in April.
Peter Coyle, the co-author of the study, says: “it is amount and the period of alcohol consumption on which damage to the fetus depends. Similarly, the exposure time related to the development of tissues and cells also plays an important role in this connection.”
“The results of some previous studies have shown that exposure to alcohol or some other toxins during pregnancy can cause zinc deficiency in the fetus, as they induced zinc-binding protein in the liver of the pregnant woman.”
In their study, the researchers gave saline or an alcohol solution to the pregnant mice on their eight day of gestation (equivalent to 3-8 weeks on a human pregnancy). The researchers gave these mice either zinc supplemented or a regular diet during from the beginning to 18th day of gestation. Then the researchers assessed some of the fetuses to find out any birth defect and monitored the growth of the offspring for 60 days after birth.
The researchers concluded that fetal defects because of alcohol exposure could be prevented by the use of dietary zinc supplementation. However, the researchers say that their finding doesn’t mean that alcohol consumption becomes safe during pregnancy only by taking sufficient amount of zinc.
