Smoking during pregnancy: a risk factor for peripheral neuropathy?
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.
Carratù
M R
MR
Department of Pharmacology and Human Physiology, Medical School, University of Bari, Policlinico, Bari, Italy. mrc@farmacol.uniba.it
Coluccia
A
A
Borracci
P
P
Fasano
A
A
Riccio
P
P
Cuomo
V
V
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*