title: Exposure to nicotine during pregnancy and altered learning and memory in the rat offspring.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prenatal exposure to nicotine can cause many fetal developmental problems. This study determined the influence of nicotine during pregnancy on the development of cognitive behavior in the offspring.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nicotine was administered to pregnant rats through implanted osmotic mini-pumps at 6mg/kg/day and flow rate of 60 μl/day for whole pregnancy from gestational day 4. Fetal and offspring body and brain weight was measured. Learning and memory were tested in adult offspring with Morris water maze; Learning and memory-related receptors were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that exposure to prenatal nicotine (PN) not only caused fetal growth restriction, but also had long-term effects on learning and memory in the offspring. The PN offspring exhibited longer escape latency regardless of sex. The number of passing the platform was significantly less in the PN offspring than that of the control. The expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR) in the hippocampus was significantly increased, whereas alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) protein was decreased with unchanged α7 nAChR mRNA in the PN offspring.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data provided novel information on the PN-affected development in learning and memory in the offspring, suggesting that α7 nAChR and NMDAR1 in the hippocampus might be the targets for actions of PN in association with memory impairment.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Jiayue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bo
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Pengjie
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Qinqin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Lingjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Jiaqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Chonglong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Jianying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China;
authors.forename: Caiping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Fetology, First Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China; Center for Perinatal Biology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA xuzhice@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhice
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000523:psychology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor