Prenatal exposure to diazepam results in enduring reductions in brain receptors and deep slow wave sleep.
After prenatal exposure to diazepam (Valium), mature rats at 4 months of age displayed slow wave sleep (SWS) electroencephalographic patterns indicating impaired synchronization and SWS mechanisms. These animals spent a much greater portion of their SWS in the lighter SWS I, as compared to the control group which showed a predominance of the deeper SWS II. At one year of age, the diazepam-exposed rats had much fewer diazepam-specific binding sites in the thalamus than the vehicle-exposed controls. These results provide first evidence for a physiological role for benzodiazepine receptors by showing that prenatal exposure to diazepam has an enduring and detrimental effect on their ontogenesis and sleep mechanisms.
Livezey
G T
GT
Radulovacki
M
M
Isaac
L
L
Marczynski
T J
TJ
D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000032:analysis; D003344:Cortical Synchronization; D003975:Diazepam / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000032:analysis*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000032:analysis
D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D003975:Diazepam