title: Fetal exposure to nicotine does not alter the core temperature response of 7- to 8-week-old rats to intracerebroventricular administration of PGE(1).
abstract: Prenatal exposure to nicotine attenuates stress-induced hyperthermia in adult male and female rats upon exposure to a novel environment. Given that prostaglandins play an important role in mediating stress-induced hyperthermia, our current experiments were carried out to determine if prenatal exposure to nicotine alters the thermogenic response of adult rats to an E-series prostaglandin. Forty-eight chronically instrumented adults rats (24 males and 24 females) received an intracerebroventricular injection of prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1); 0.2 microg in 10 microl of artificial cerebrospinal fluid [aCSF]) or vehicle (10 microl aCSF) at 7-8 weeks of postnatal life (i.e. adulthood as defined by the ability to reproduce) following prenatal exposure to nicotine (6 mg of nicotine tartrate per kilogram of maternal body weight per day) or vehicle via a maternally implanted osmotic mini-pump from Day 6 or 7 of gestation to term. In female rats, intracerebroventricular injection of PGE(1) following prenatal exposure to vehicle produced a monophasic fever with a magnitude of approximately 1.5 degrees C and a duration of approximately 66 min. In male rats, however, intracerebroventricular injection of PGE(1) following prenatal exposure to vehicle produced a monophasic fever with a magnitude of only approximately 0.9 degrees C and a duration of approximately 42 min. Prenatal exposure to nicotine did not significantly alter the febrile responses of male or female rats to intracerebroventricular injection of PGE(1) as compared to that observed following prenatal exposure to vehicle. Thus, prenatal exposure to nicotine does not significantly alter the thermogenic response of adult rats to central administration of the pyrogen PGE(1). It is unlikely, therefore, that an altered thermoregulatory effector response to E-series prostaglandins is responsible for mediating the attenuated stress-induced hyperthermia in adult male and female rats upon exposure to a novel environment following prenatal exposure to nicotine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Health Sciences Centre, University of Calgary, 206, Heritage Medical Research Building, 3330 Hospital Drive Northwest, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1. fewell@ucalgary.edu
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fewell
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Eliason
mesh_terms: D000527:Alprostadil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine / Q000633:toxicity*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques
chemical_list: D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D009538:Nicotine; D000527:Alprostadil