Cocaine exposure during pregnancy affects rat neonate and maternal brain glycosphingolipids

• Published in: Brain research bulletin Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 195 - 198
• Main Authors: Leskawa, Kenneth C., Hagan Jackson, G., Moody, Carol A., Spear, Linda P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 1994; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Newborn - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain - drug effects; Brain - metabolism; Cocaine; Cocaine - pharmacology; Complex carbohydrates; Development; Drug addictions; Female; Ganglioside; Gangliosides - metabolism; Glycosphingolipid; Glycosphingolipids - metabolism; Medical sciences; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Toxicology; Brain; Ganglioside; Glycosphingolipid; Ganglioside nomenclature is according to Svennerholm and neutral glycolipid nomenclature is according to the IUPAC-IUB commission on biochemical nomenclature . P1 and P11 refer to postnatal days one and eleven. GSL = glycosphingolipid; Development; Cocaine; Complex carbohydrates; Rat; Toxicity; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Sphingolipid; Postnatal development; Pregnancy; Ripening; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Drug of abuse; Mechanism of action; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0361-9230; 1873-2747
• DOI: 10.1016/0361-9230(94)90251-8

Behavioral dysfunctions in offspring exposed in utero to cocaine have been observed, along with alterations in dopamine systems, but few studies of the underlying biochemistry have been conducted. Because of their documented roles in neuronal maturation, glycosphingolipids were analyzed in whole brains of offspring exposed gestationally to cocaine. Rat offspring exposed to cocaine in utero exhibited markedly elevated levels of both total gangliosides ( p < 0.001) and neutral glycosphingolipids ( p < 0.01) at postnatal day 1. However, by postnatal day 11 levels of gangliosides and neutral glycosphingolipids returned to control values. These effects were not restricted to chronic cocaine exposure early in life, in that ganglioside content of whole maternal brains was also elevated ( p < 0.001), though less than that observed with the neonate brains. Qualitatively, no differences in ganglioside nor neutral glycolipid structure distribution were observed between cocaine-exposed and normal animals following separation by HPTLC and HPLC. These elevations are in contrast to those following alcohol exposure, where decreases in brain gangliosides have been observed. Neurochemical consequences of prenatal exposure to cocaine may be far-reaching and may not be restricted to the dopamine system.