title: Smoking during pregnancy: a risk factor for peripheral neuropathy?
abstract: Studies dealing with the outcomes of developmental carbon monoxide (CO) exposure on myelination in rat offspring are reviewed. Prenatal CO exposure from gestational day 0 to gestational day 20 impairs myelin deposition around peripheral axons resulting in a significant hypomyelination in juvenile and adult rats. Myelin protein patterns analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and lipid patterns analyzed by the HPTLC method are not altered in both peripheral and central nervous systems of CO-exposed offspring. Interestingly, when sphingomyelin is extracted and purified, the derivatization by OPA reagent and analysis by reversed-phase HPLC reveal a significant increase in sphingosine levels in peripheral nervous system but not in central nervous system of CO-exposed rats. The above morphological and biochemical alterations are not accompanied by motor disabilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Human Physiology, Medical School, University of Bari, Policlinico, Bari, Italy. mrc@farmacol.uniba.it
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Carratù
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coluccia
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borracci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fasano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riccio
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cuomo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*