Prenatal cocaine alters later sensitivity to cocaine-induced seizures.
Rats that had been prenatally exposed to cocaine were tested later in life for their sensitivity to cocaine-kindled seizures and acute cocaine-induced seizures. When treated daily with cocaine, beginning at one month of age, males prenatally exposed to 40 mg/kg cocaine developed seizures in a fewer number of days than those prenatally exposed to saline. Prenatally cocaine-treated females did not seize more rapidly than controls in the cocaine kindling paradigm; however, they were more susceptible to seizures in response to an acute high dose of cocaine. These results suggest that rats prenatally cocaine-treated are more sensitive to the seizure-producing effects of cocaine later in life, and this enhanced sensitivity is differentially expressed in males and females.
Snyder-Keller
A M
AM
Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health, Albany 12201, USA.
Keller
R W
RW
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D007696:Kindling, Neurologic; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D003042:Cocaine