Chunk #90 — Future Directions: Combining Stress and Alcohol Models and Assessment of Multigenerational Effects and Therapeutics — Therapeutic Strategies
through histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are a pharmacological avenue worth exploring. HDACs act to remove acetylation marks from histones, resulting in a more closed chromatin structure and reduced transcriptional activity (Abel and Zukin, 2008). HDAC inhibitors prevent these enzymes from acting, allowing chromatin to remain in a more permissive state. While HDAC inhibitors have proven neuroprotective and neurorestorative in models of stress and aging (Kim et al., 2007; Langley et al., 2005), at the writing of this review, no studies looking at the direct effect of HDAC inhibitors on PAE-induced epigenetic status or cognitive/behavioral correlates could be found. One of the limiting factors for using this approach is that affecting chromatin structure during development could cause secondary effects on the fetus. Discovery of therapeutic treatments safe for delivery during the prenatal and postnatal periods is a critical step in moving efforts forward to help children with FASD or negatively impacted by early life stress or maltreatment.
