Patent ID: 6933277

Claim:
A method for reducing a condition associated with fetal alcohol syndrome in a fetus who is exposed to alcohol in utero, the method comprising administering to the fetus while in utero an activity dependent neurotrophic factor (ADNF) polypeptide in an amount sufficient to reduce the condition associated with fetal alcohol syndrome; wherein the ADNF polypeptide is administered before alcohol exposure; wherein the condition associated with fetal alcohol syndrome is selected from the group consisting of decreased body weight of the fetus, decreased brain weight of the fetus, decreased level of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) mRNA of the fetus, and likelihood of death of the fetus in utero; and wherein the ADNF polypeptide is a member selected from the group consisting of: (a) an ADNF I polypeptide having the following amino acid sequence: (R 1 ) x -Ser-Ala-Leu-Leu-Arg-Ser-Ile-Pro-Ala-(R 2 ) y (SEQ ID NO:3); (b) an ADNF III polypeptide having the following amino acid sequence: (R 3 ) w -Asn-Ala-Pro-Val-Ser-Ile-Pro-Gln-(R 4 ) z (SEQ ID NO:4); (c) a mixture of the ADNF I polypeptide of part (a) and the ADNF III polypeptide of part (b); wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are independently selected and are an amino acid sequence comprising from 1 to about 40 amino acids wherein each amino acid is independently selected; and x, y, w, and z are independently selected and are equal to zero or one.