[Study on the postnatal neuro-behavioral development in rats treated prenatally with drugs acting on the autonomic...

The drugs used were methamphetamine, reserpine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, propranolol, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, pilocarpine and atropine. Each drug except for reserpine (days 7-13 and 14-19 of gestation) was administered subcutaneously to dams from day 7 to 19 of gestation. The body weight gain of dams receiving reserpine (days 7-13) and haloperidol was inhibited during the gestation period. Two out of 9 dams receiving methamphetamine died on day 21 of gestation period; However, no effect was observed in dams given other drugs. The body weight gain of pups was inhibited in methamphetamine and haloperidol treated groups. The mortality of pups was comparable in all groups. The behavioral development of the righting reflex, cliff drop avoidance and negative geotaxis of pups given reserpine (days 7-13), norepinephrine, chlorpromazine and haloperidol was significantly retarded in comparison with that of control pups. The spontaneous motor activity of pups measured by Animex was increased in reserpine (days 7-13) and epinephrine treated groups and decreased in the chlorpromazine treated group on day 28 postpartum, but comparable in all groups on day 56 postpartum. The conditioned avoidance responses using the shuttle box revealed deficits of avoidance learning of pups in the reserpine (days 7-13), norepinephrine and atropine treated groups. These findings suggest that the prenatal exposure to drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system may produce adverse effects on the behavioral development of pups; However, the adverse effects were more apparent by postnatal exposure than by prenatal exposure.