Cholesterol supplement may act as an antidote for would be mothers who are at a risk of damaging their growing fetus by alcohol consumption. A protein called Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), which is responsible for the development of nervous system, head, face, heart and limbs are all affected by fetal alcohol syndrome. SHH is only active when bound to cholesterol, and alcohol is known to affect cholesterol levels. When the researchers introduced zebra fish embryos (since zebra fish and humans share the same set of proteins controlling early development) to low concentrations of alcohol, they observed that the embryos had normal amounts of SHH, but expression of the genes it controls was reduced, leading to defects resembling fetal alcohol syndrome. The embryos also had lower cholesterol levels, suggesting that SHH had been deactivated. However, the birth defects were prevented after the embryos were fed with cholesterol supplements.
