Effects of perinatal buprenorphine and methadone exposures on striatal cholinergic ontogeny

The effects of exposure to various doses of buprenorphine, methadone or water during the perinatal period were studied on striatal cholinergic development in the rat. Rats were exposed to buprenorphine (0.3 or 3.0 mg/kg/day), methadone (9 mg/kg/day) and/or water prenatally, postnatally or both pre- and postnatally via maternally implanted osmotic minipumps. The effects of buprenorphine varied with the dose used. There were some similarities between the effects of perinatal buprenorphine and perinatal methadone, such as a reduction in striatal acetylcholine (ACh) content in 4-day-old pups exposed prenatally to methadone or buprenorphine (0.3 mg/kg/day). However, differences were also observed between the effects of the two drugs. Unlike methadone, the 0.3-mg/kg/day dose of buprenorphine produced a sex-related increase in striatal ACh in male postnatal day (PND) 21 pups. The 3-mg/kg/day dose of buprenorphine produced a completely different range of results, such as decreased striatal ACh content in 4-day-old pups exposed to the drug postnatally and in 21-day-old pups exposed both pre- and postnatally. Differences in the effects of the two drugs may be related to the different affinities and efficacies of the drugs at different opioid receptor subtypes.