Cocaine treatment and prenatal environment interact to disrupt intergenerational maternal behavior in rats.
The link between impaired maternal behavior (MB) and cocaine treatment could result from drug-induced decreases in maternal reactivity to offspring, prenatal drug exposure (PDE) in offspring that could alter their ability to elicit MB, or the interaction of both, which could subsequently impair MB of the 1st-generation dams. Following chronic or intermittent cocaine or saline treatment during gestation, rat dams rearing natural or cross-fostered litters were compared along with untreated dams for MB. Untreated 1st-generation females with differentially treated rearing dams and PDE were tested for MB with their natural litters. The authors report disruptions in MB in dams and their 1st-generation offspring, attributable to main and interaction effects of maternal treatment, litter PDE, and rearing experience.
Johns
Josephine M
JM
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. jjohns@med.unc.edu
Elliott
Deborah L
DL
Hofler
Vivian E
VE
Joyner
Paul W
PW
McMurray
Matthew S
MS
Jarrett
Thomas M
TM
Haslup
Amber M
AM
Middleton
Christopher L
CL
Elliott
Jay C
JC
Walker
Cheryl H
CH
D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D010121:Oxytocin; D003042:Cocaine