title: Effects of prenatal AZT+3TC treatment on open field behavior and responsiveness to scopolamine in adult mice.
abstract: Treatment of pregnant seropositive women and their neonates with the nucleoside analogs (reverse transcriptase inhibitors) zidovudine (AZT), lamivudine (3TC) and their combination has become a standard of care in industrialized countries to prevent transmission of the HIV-1 virus. Animal studies indicated limited but significant behavioral changes in AZT or 3TC-prenatally exposed offspring, whereas data on the potential neurobehavioral outcomes of AZT+3TC combination are still lacking. The aim of the present study was to assess in mice prenatally exposed to AZT+3TC the functional state of cholinergic muscarinic neuroregulation at adulthood. Pregnant CD-1 mice received per orem twice daily AZT+3TC (160 and 500 mg/kg, respectively) or vehicle solution (NaCl 0.9%) from gestational day (GD) 10 to delivery (GD 19). Locomotor activity, exploratory behavior and responsiveness to the muscarinic cholinergic blocker scopolamine (2 mg/kg) were analyzed at adulthood (PND 70) in offspring of both sexes in an open field test. Results indicated that prenatal AZT+3TC exposure does not influence responsiveness to the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist as measured by analysis of the drug's effects on locomotor and exploratory activity and different behavioral items. However, AZT+3TC-treated mice displayed higher frequency of rearing, and lower frequency and duration of self-grooming behavior, consistent with an effect on dopaminergic neurotransmission. However, this would need confirmatory experiments.
authors.affiliation: Section of Comparative Psychology, Laboratory of Pathophysiology O.S., Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, I-00161, Rome, Italy. gemma@iss.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calamandrei
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venerosi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valanzano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alleva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012601:Scopolamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019259:Lamivudine; D015215:Zidovudine; D012601:Scopolamine