that alcohol may redirect the utilization of folate toward serine synthesis and thereby interfere with a critical function of methylene tetrahydrofolate and thymidine synthesis.40,41 The contention of alcohol-induced alteration of fetal DNA methylation has been put forward but not yet established,39,42 and evidence that alcohol causes fetal alcohol damage through altered DNA or histone methylation has not been investigated. However, alcohol exposure has been associated with decreased DNMT mRNA levels in the sperm of male rats exposed to alcohol,43 and substantial evidence supports a significant role for DNA methylation in neural cell lineage differentiation and early brain development.44–47
