(Zinc finger protein, MAP kinase related, Transcription factor Nf2l2), and metabolic genes (lactate dehydrogenase, Aldolase 1). In the current study, a similar dose of alcohol exposure at the stage of neurulation (E8-10) produced a major neural and cardiovascular retardation and other organ system abnormalities. The trends of gene expression are consistent with the observed developmental delay and growth retardation in FASD. Among the genes with reduced expression in the alcohol-treated embryos were those involved in growth retardation, neural development, heart and hematopoiesis, and epigenetics. Among the identified functionally related gene sets, the most notable effect was the down regulation of growth-related genes, which represented the largest group of affected genes (Table 4). These genes provide plausible candidates for mechanistic links to the observed embryonic growth retardation.
