Microanatomy in 21 day rat brains exposed prenatally to cocaine

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.