Effect of acute ethanol and cocaine administration on gestation days 14-17 in mice

The teratogenic effects of the coadministration of alcohol and cocaine on gestation days 14-17 were investigated using an acute exposure model. Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were assigned randomly to treatment groups generated from a 2 (0 or 6 g/kg alcohol) x 2 (0 or 60 mg/kg cocaine) x 4 (day of treatment) factorial design. An untreated control group was also employed. On GD14, 15, 16, or 17, females were intubated with alcohol or an isocaloric solution and injected (SC) 10 min later with cocaine or saline. Litters were evaluated on GD19 following cesarean delivery. A significant number of females in the alcohol-only group treated on GD16 or GD17 delivered litters prior to GD19. The results indicated that, in general, prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with decreased fetal body weight and suggested a possible increase in malformations of vascular origin. Cocaine and the alcohol/cocaine interaction did not affect the outcome variables in any reliable manner. Thus, with the animal model employed, cocaine did not exert teratogenic effects on its own nor did it influence alcohol-induced teratogenesis.