Detection of chemometric-guided biomarkers associated with alcohol consumption in mice liver tissue using infrared spectroscopy

Among the leading contributors to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), perinatal alcohol usage is characterized by neurodevelopmental dysfunction and growth retardation. This study aims to determine spectroscopic biomarkers referring to the results of early postnatal exposure to alcohol in the liver of newborn mice. The samples were divided into three groups: Negative control group, gavage control group (positive control), and group with gavage + alcohol which is treated between postnatal days (PD) 3 and 20 with 3.0 g/kg body weight of ethanol in a liter of artificially enhanced milk (.02 ml/g). After the decapitation of mice, liver tissues were removed and infrared data were obtained using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Spectral data was analyzed and evaluated using normalization, principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Possible chemometric biomarkers detected in this study are related to the lipids and found as follows: 2960 cm−1, 2873 cm−1, 1454 cm−1, and 1398 cm−1. According to the results of this study, it can be proposed that FTIR is an effective tool for the detection of chemometric-guided biomarkers related to the consequences of early postnatal alcohol consumption on female rats.