title: Maternal barbiturate administration and offspring response to shock.
abstract: Gravid Sprague-Dawley-derived rats were injected SC twice daily with either 20 or 40 mg/kg pentobarbital sodium (PT), sodium phenobarbital (PH), or the same volume of the saline vehicle on days 9-21 of pregnancy. Pair-feeding was employed. Vital, developmental, and activity measures were obtained on the neonates and locomotor activity was measured from 3-10 months of age. Avoidance was measured sequentially in a shuttle box, and in an operant chamber beginning at 3 months of age. The PH-80 dams gained less weight over the gestational period, and PH-80 and PH-40 offspring had more neonatal deaths. These male offspring were hyperactive at maturity, and PH-80 rats were initially slower to escape experimenter-initiated shock. PT exposure caused transient neonatal and juvenile hyperactivity. PT rats performed more poorly on both the conditioned avoidance and Sidman shock schedules, and had significantly lower brain: body weight ratios at 1 year of age. All four drug groups outperformed the saline offspring on subject-initiated shock schedules (punishment). Sex of offspring was determined on postnatal day 4 and the sex ratio was shifted towards male births with both drugs relative to controls.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004597:Electroshock; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced*; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000633:toxicity*; D010634:Phenobarbital / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D010424:Pentobarbital; D010634:Phenobarbital