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Immunity and Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

A Pilot Study in Human Adolescents

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Drugs of Abuse, Immunomodulation, and Aids

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 437))

Abstract

Alcohol has been recognized as a teratogen for over 150 years.1 In 1968, a constellation of birth defects which would become known as the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) was described in France,2 and confirmed shortly thereafter in the United States.3 An explosion of case reports ensued, and a number of clinical and animal investigations were initiated.4 A general consensus from these studies is that in uteroalcohol exposure produces a continuum of alcohol-related birth defects, also known as fetal alcohol effects (FAE), and that FAS represents the severe end of that spectrum. To date, only limited human studies have been conducted on the immune status of children with FAS,5-7 and none have been done on alcohol-exposed children without the full-blown syndrome. The present study is aimed at filling these gaps in knowledge.

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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Oleson, D.R., Magee, R.M., Donahoe, R.M., Falek, A., Coles, C.D. (1998). Immunity and Prenatal Alcohol Exposure. In: Friedman, H., Madden, J.J., Klein, T.W. (eds) Drugs of Abuse, Immunomodulation, and Aids. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 437. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5347-2_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5347-2_28

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7439-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-5347-2

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