Consequences of prenatal cocaine exposure in nonhuman primates

The extent to which cocaine abuse by pregnant women can affect development of their offspring remains a matter of significant debate. In large part, this is due to difficulties in accurate determination of the type, dose, and pattern of cocaine administration by drug abusing women as well as to difficulties in controlling for a wide range of potentially confounding variables, such as other drugs used, race, socioeconomic status, and level of prenatal care. On this background, examination of the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure in highly controlled nonhuman primate models represents an important complement to the human research. The present review summarizes the data obtained in several different rhesus monkey models of cocaine exposure in utero. These data demonstrate the potential of prenatal cocaine exposure to interfere with structural and biochemical development of the brain leading to behavioral deficits at birth and/or during adulthood. However, the differences in the outcomes between individual models also suggest that the specific types and severity of cocaine effects are likely dependent on the route, dose, gestational period, and daily pattern of administration.