LCMS used in prenatal alcohol study

Scientists have used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to measure the neuroprotective effects of activity-dependent neurotrophic factor (ADNF-9) against alcohol-induced apoptosis using TUNEL staining.

In a study published by the Journal of Biomedical Science, scientists from the US aimed to investigate the role of ADNF-9 against ethanol teratogenesis during early foetal brain development using LC-MS/MS.

The team exposed six pregnant mice from embryonic days seven to 13 to a 25 per cent ethanol-derived calorie (EDC) diet (ALC), a 25 per cent EDC diet simultaneously administered (ALC/ADNF-9) or a pair-fed (PF) liquid diet.

At day 13, foetal brains were collected from five mice from each group, weighed, and frozen for LC-MS/MS procedure.

Significant upregulation of several important proteins involved in brain development were found in the ALC/ADNF-9 group as compared to the ALC group.

"Administration of ADNF-9 prevented alcohol-induced reduction in foetal brain weight and alcohol-induced increases in cell death," the report stated.