title: Human placenta: a direct target for cocaine action.
abstract: Use of cocaine during pregnancy is known to have harmful effects on the mother and her fetus. Currently available models describing the pathogenesis of these effects focus on the involvement of cocaine target systems, primarily the noradrenaline transporter, in the mother and the fetus. The placenta which lies between the mother and the fetus is considered only as a 'silent observer' in the whole process of cocaine-induced complications during pregnancy. Recent studies have, however, shown that the placenta expresses several cocaine target proteins such as the noradrenaline transporter, the serotonin transporter, and the sigma receptor. The functions of these proteins are significantly impaired in the presence of cocaine at concentrations known to exist in the plasma of cocaine users. These studies clearly show that the placenta itself is a direct target for cocaine action and that interaction of cocaine with its target proteins in the placenta plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cocaine-induced complications in the mother and her developing fetus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912-2100.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ganapathy
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Leibach
mesh_terms: D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D010920:Placenta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000139:chemically induced*; D017480:Receptors, sigma / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D027981:Symporters
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D017480:Receptors, sigma; C493227:SLC6A2 protein, human; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D027981:Symporters; D003042:Cocaine