Cocaine attenuates puberty acceleration in female house mice

The onset of puberty in female house mice is advanced by exposure to a male urinary pheromone. This study tested whether cocaine could modify the juvenile female mouse's response to this pheromone. Puberty acceleration, as measured by uterine weight change, is inhibited by daily SC administration of 30 or 40 mg/kg body weight cocaine HCl between 20 and 26 days of age. Two daily injections of 20 mg/kg cocaine reduced both uterine development and body weight gain. Thus, cocaine may reduce an animals' reproductive fitness by isolating it from its social environment. At higher doses, cocaine can delay body growth, as well as the onset of puberty.