Effects of maternal ritodrine therapy on fetal rat brain development

The effects of maternal treatment with ritodrine, a beta 2-adrenergic agonist, on the biochemical development of fetal brain were studied in an animal model. Pregnant rats were treated with long and short dosage schedules. Fetuses were delivered by hysterotomy 4 h after the last dose. No differences in the fetal brain content of protein, DNA, glycogen, cholesterol or beta-adrenergic receptors were found. In this animal model, using relatively high maternal doses of ritodrine, there were no apparent effects on the fetal brain biochemical indices measured, suggesting a relatively high efficacy to toxicity ratio of ritodrine for brain development.