Intermittent prenatal MDMA exposure alters physiological but not mood related parameters in adult rat offspring.
Csaba Ádori, Dóra Zelena, Júlia Tímár, Zsuzsa Gyarmati, Agnes Domokos, Melinda Sobor, Zsuzsanna Fürst, Gábor Makara, György Bagdy
Behavioural Brain Research January 20, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.09.031 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled animal experiment Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Pregnant Wistar rats and their adult male and female offspring |
| Intervention | MDMA |
| Dose | 15 mg/kg MDMA s.c. on gestation days E4, E11, and E18 |
| Duration | Treatment on gestation days E4, E11, and E18; offspring assessed in adulthood |
| Measures | wire suspension test, rotarod test, elevated plus maze, sucrose preference test, forced swimming test |
| Topics | MDMA |
| Key findings | Intermittent prenatal MDMA exposure in rats produced lasting reductions in offspring body weight, lower blood glucose and hematocrit, altered spleen and thymus weights, and impaired motor skill learning on the wire suspension and rotarod tests, while locomotor activity and anxiety- and depression-related behaviors remained normal. Male offspring showed elevated blood corticosterone, and treated mothers had reduced serotonergic fiber density. |
Abstract
The recreational party drug "ecstasy" (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine MDMA) is particularly popular among young adults who are in the childbearing age and thus there is a substantial risk of prenatal MDMA exposure. We applied an intermittent treatment protocol with an early first injection on pregnant Wistar rats (15 mg/kg MDMA s.c. on the E4, E11 and E18 days of gestation) to examine the potential physiological, endocrine and behavioral effects on adult male and female offspring. Prenatal MDMA-treatment provoked reduced body weight of offspring from the birth as far as the adulthood. Adult MDMA-offspring had a reduced blood-glucose concentration and hematocrit, altered relative spleen and thymus weight, had lower performance on wire suspension test and on the first trial of rotarod test. In contrast, no alteration in the locomotor activity was found. Anxiety and depression related behavioral parameters in elevated plus maze, sucrose preference or forced swimming tests were normal. MDMA-offspring had elevated concentration of the ACTH-precursor proopiomelanocortin and male MDMA-offspring exhibited elevated blood corticosterone concentration. No significant alteration was detected in the serotonergic marker tryptophan-hydroxylase and the catcholaminergic marker tyrosine-hydroxylase immunoreactive fiber densities in MDMA-offspring. The mothers exhibited reduced densities of serotonergic but not catecholaminergic fibers after the MDMA treatment. Our findings suggest that an intermittent prenatal MDMA exposure with an early first injection and a relatively low cumulative dose provokes mild but significant alterations in physical-physiological parameters and reduces motor skill learning in adulthood. In contrast, these adult offspring do not produce anxiety or depression like behavior.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on MDMA, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Recovery and aging of serotonergic fibers after single and intermittent MDMA treatment in dark agouti rat The Journal of Comparative Neurology March 31, 2011
- Maternal MDMA administration in mice leads to neonatal growth delay The Journal of Toxicological Sciences 2014
- Differential effects of MDMA and cocaine on inhibitory avoidance and object recognition tests in rodents. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory December 2017
- Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy) Alters Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Causes Enduring Memory Deficits Developmental Neuroscience 2014
- Psychiatric profiles of mothers who take Ecstasy/MDMA during pregnancy: reduced depression 1 year after giving birth and quitting Ecstasy. Journal of Psychopharmacology January 2014
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- 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy)-Induced Learning and Memory Impairments Depend on the Age of Exposure during Early Development Journal of Neuroscience May 1, 2001
and 15 more in the library