RESUMEN
The illicit use of cocaine has increased dramatically over the last 10-12 years. There has been a corresponding increase in cocaine abuse among obstetric patients and in the number of "cocaine babies." According to some estimates, these children make up more than half of the drug-associated births. This problem is therefore a major public health concern. Consequently, our laboratory investigated the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on hearing, vision, growth, and exploratory/stress behavior. This chapter summarizes the literature on animals and humans on these topics and presents new observations from our laboratory. In terms of maternal toxicity, prenatal cocaine exposure causes hypertension, placental abruption, spontaneous abortion, poor pregnancy weight gain, and undernutrition secondary to appetite suppression. Some offspring effects include in utero growth retardation, cephalic hemorrhage, fetal edema, altered body composition, congenital malformations, and even pre- and postnatal death. The offspring can also exhibit a variety of behavioral, visual, hearing, and language disorders. Differential effects of animal strain and late gestational cocaine exposure are discussed. Comparisons are made between prenatal cocaine, the fetal alcohol syndrome, and the effects of prenatal undernutrition. Recommendations for clinical assessment and intervention are made.
Asunto(s)
Cocaína , Audición/efectos de los fármacos , Complicaciones del Embarazo/fisiopatología , Efectos Tardíos de la Exposición Prenatal , Estrés Psicológico , Trastornos Relacionados con Sustancias , Visión Ocular/efectos de los fármacos , Anomalías Inducidas por Medicamentos , Animales , Niño , Cocaína/toxicidad , Desarrollo Embrionario y Fetal/efectos de los fármacos , Conducta Exploratoria/efectos de los fármacos , Femenino , Crecimiento/efectos de los fármacos , Humanos , Recién Nacido , EmbarazoRESUMEN
Prenatal cocaine exposure is associated with disrupted state control and lowered activity levels. Prenatal retinoic acid excess also influences activity levels in laboratory rats. Activity level is usually monitored during a brief period in young offspring. The effects of these drugs on pup activity levels throughout the day is unknown. There is also little information on the long-lasting effects of these teratogens in adult animals. We compared the daily activity of rats which were prenatally exposed to cocaine or retinoic acid (RA). Appropriate control groups were also used. The offspring were evaluated for activity levels in a neophobic situation and for a 22-h period in same-sex groups of 3 littermates. As both pups and adults, the cocaine groups were hypoactive while the RA group was hyperactive when first placed into the testing cage (neophobic situation). Similarly, during the remainder of the 22-h testing period, the pup and adult cocaine animals exhibited reduced activity levels while the RA animals exhibited elevated activity levels. Thus, prenatal cocaine and retinoic acid exposures affected offspring activity levels differently, both drugs have long-lasting neurobehavioral effects that persist into adulthood, and effects are influenced by time-of-day. Strain-dependent differences and mechanisms of action are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Ciclos de Actividad/efectos de los fármacos , Cocaína/toxicidad , Narcóticos/toxicidad , Efectos Tardíos de la Exposición Prenatal , Tretinoina/toxicidad , Animales , Ingestión de Líquidos/efectos de los fármacos , Ingestión de Alimentos/efectos de los fármacos , Femenino , Embarazo , Ratas , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , Aumento de Peso/efectos de los fármacosRESUMEN
Polydrug abuse has increased substantially in recent years amongst obstetric patients. One of the most common drug combinations is alcohol and cocaine. To better understand the adverse consequences of this drug combination on pregnancy and the offspring, alcohol (2 g/kg, b.i.d.) and cocaine HCl (30 mg/kg, b.i.d.) were administered individually and in combination to separate groups of pregnant Long-Evans rats from gestation days 7-20. The pregnant dams were evaluated for maternal weight gain, food and water consumption, mortality, and gestational length. The offspring were evaluated for physical maturation, mortality, and behavior. The drug combination was found to have greater effects regarding decreased birth weight, increased postnatal mortality, and delayed physical maturation than either drug alone. Drug treatments also influenced activity monitor behavior in that prenatal cocaine exposure was associated with hypoactivity while the alcohol and the alcohol-plus-cocaine treatments were associated with hyperactivity in periweanling pups. Drug treatments had no significant effects on passive or active avoidance behaviors. These results suggest that combining alcohol and cocaine increases the risk to the offspring.