TY - JOUR
T1 - Neurochemical development of the raphe after continuous prenatal cocaine exposure
AU - Factor, Elizabeth M.
AU - Hart, Ronald P.
AU - Jonakait, G. Miller
N1 - Funding Information:
We wouldl iketo thankR . Hawks, NIDA, andt heC entefro rH uman Toxicoio8fyo rt hec ocainaen dB E assayTsh. eS P antibodwy asp rovided by SusanL eemanB, ostonU niversityS choool f MedicineT. he cDNA probef or PPT wasg raciouslyp rovidedt o us by lames Krause,W ash-ingtonU niversityS, t.L ouis,M O. Thea uthorasc knowledgteh ed issection expertiseo f Li Ni and the valuablet echnicala ssistanceo f Zury-Lin Shenga nd AnnetteM . ShadiackT. his work was supportedb y grants from NIDA (DAO5964)N, IMH (RPH; MHOO855a)n dt heN ewJ ersey Departmenotf HumanS ervicesT:h e Governor’Cs ouncilf or theP re-ventiono f MentalR etardatioann dD evelopmentDails abilitie(sE MF).
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - Disorders among cocaine-exposed infants suggest the medullary raphe nuclei (MRN) as potential targets for cocaine-induced disabilities. Serotonin (5-HT) and substance P (SP) are colocalized within neurons of the MRN. To determine possible neurochemical abnormalities resulting from prenatal cocaine exposure, we measured levels of mRNA coding for the SP preprohormone preprotachykinin (PPT), SP peptide levels, and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) activity throughout perinatal and early postnatal development. Pregnant rats at embryonic day 7 (E7) were implanted (SC) with Alzet osmotic minipumps dispensing 10 or 40 mg/kg cocaine daily for 2 weeks. Maternal weight gain, duration of pregnancy, and fetal viability were unaffected by the treatment. Moreover, TPH activity and levels of PPT mRNA [assessed from day E17 through postnatal day (PND) 14] were normal in pups receiving either dose. Except for a transient decline at PND1, SP peptide levels in the ventral spinal cord in the first postnatal week were also unchanged. These data suggest that continuous exposure throughout gestation to these concentrations of cocaine has negligible consequences for the development of these neurotransmitters.
AB - Disorders among cocaine-exposed infants suggest the medullary raphe nuclei (MRN) as potential targets for cocaine-induced disabilities. Serotonin (5-HT) and substance P (SP) are colocalized within neurons of the MRN. To determine possible neurochemical abnormalities resulting from prenatal cocaine exposure, we measured levels of mRNA coding for the SP preprohormone preprotachykinin (PPT), SP peptide levels, and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) activity throughout perinatal and early postnatal development. Pregnant rats at embryonic day 7 (E7) were implanted (SC) with Alzet osmotic minipumps dispensing 10 or 40 mg/kg cocaine daily for 2 weeks. Maternal weight gain, duration of pregnancy, and fetal viability were unaffected by the treatment. Moreover, TPH activity and levels of PPT mRNA [assessed from day E17 through postnatal day (PND) 14] were normal in pups receiving either dose. Except for a transient decline at PND1, SP peptide levels in the ventral spinal cord in the first postnatal week were also unchanged. These data suggest that continuous exposure throughout gestation to these concentrations of cocaine has negligible consequences for the development of these neurotransmitters.
KW - Alzet osmotic minipump
KW - Cocaine
KW - Development
KW - Preprotachykinin mRNA
KW - Raphe
KW - Substance P
KW - Tryptophan hydroxylase
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0027483588&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0027483588&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0361-9230(93)90010-9
DO - 10.1016/0361-9230(93)90010-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 7680944
AN - SCOPUS:0027483588
SN - 0361-9230
VL - 31
SP - 49
EP - 56
JO - Journal of Electrophysiological Techniques
JF - Journal of Electrophysiological Techniques
IS - 1-2
ER -