title: Fetal effects of psychoactive drugs.
abstract: Psychoactive drug use by pregnant women has the potential to effect fetal development; the effects are often thought to be drug-specific and gestational age dependent. This article describes the effects of three drugs with similar molecular targets that involve monoaminergic transmitter systems: cocaine, methamphetamine, and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used to treat maternal depression during pregnancy. We propose a possible common epigenetic mechanism for their potential effects on the developing child. We suggest that exposure to these substances acts as a stressor that affects fetal programming, disrupts fetal placental monoamine transporter expression and alters neuroendocrine and neurotransmitter system development. We also discuss neurobehavioral techniques that may be useful in the early detection of the effects of in utero drug exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, 101 Dudley Street, Providence, RI 02905, USA. amy_salisbury@brown.edu
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Salisbury
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ponder
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Padbury
authors.forename: Barry M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Lester
mesh_terms: D003042:Cocaine / Q000633:toxicity*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D005333:Fetus / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000633:toxicity*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine; D008694:Methamphetamine; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors