London: Researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered a specific way to block alcohol's toxicity.

The discovery has brought researchers a step closer to a drug that would help protect unborn babies from the harm caused by their mother's excessive drinking, according to a report in 'New Scientist'.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in children in the US. While stopping drinking is the most obvious solution, alcoholic mothers can find this very difficult - motivational programmes have historically only been about 30 per cent effective.

A protective drug remains some years away, but the latest research shows how the fetal brain could specifically be shielded from alcohol. Michael Charness and colleagues found that a protein fragment called NAP stops alcohol from thwarting neurons' ability to connect to each other during brain development.

Furthermore, only a very small amount of NAP is needed for protection, meaning fewer side effects, the report said.

Mary Velasquez, a behavioural researcher at the University of Texas-Houston Health Sciences Centre, said that a drug would certainly be welcome among women at risk of FAS.

But she expressed reservations about any treatment that would allow a woman to keep drinking throughout pregnancy because of the numerous other social and health-related effects of alcohol, the report added.

ANI