Abstract
We examined cell minicolumns, apical dendrite bundles, and inhibitory interneurons, in prefrontal and somatosensory cortex of 21-day-old rat brains exposed to cocaine during fetal development. Cell columns and apical dendrite bundles were found to be narrower, or closer together, in all three areas following in utero cocaine exposure. The inter-rater reliability among different observers was R(2)=0.89. The number of cells stained for glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) was not significantly different in the prenatal cocaine exposed group compared to saline controls. The present data suggests that recreational doses of cocaine administered intravenously in early pregnancy, have the capacity to modify the maturation of the ontogenetic cell column.
Publication types
-
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
MeSH terms
-
Animals
-
Brain / abnormalities
-
Brain / drug effects*
-
Brain / pathology*
-
Cell Differentiation / drug effects
-
Cell Differentiation / physiology
-
Cocaine / toxicity*
-
Cocaine-Related Disorders / complications
-
Cocaine-Related Disorders / pathology
-
Cocaine-Related Disorders / physiopathology
-
Dendrites / drug effects
-
Dendrites / pathology
-
Disease Models, Animal
-
Female
-
Glutamate Decarboxylase / metabolism
-
Injections, Intravenous
-
Male
-
Nervous System Malformations / chemically induced
-
Nervous System Malformations / pathology
-
Nervous System Malformations / physiopathology
-
Neural Pathways / abnormalities
-
Neural Pathways / drug effects
-
Neural Pathways / pathology
-
Neurons / drug effects*
-
Neurons / pathology*
-
Pregnancy
-
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / pathology*
-
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / physiopathology
-
Rats
-
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
-
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / biosynthesis
Substances
-
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
-
Glutamate Decarboxylase
-
Cocaine