Document 0004
 DOCN  M9460004
 TI    Methadone during pregnancy: the search for a valid animal model.
 DT    9408
 AU    Hutchings DE; Zmitrovich A; Church S; Malowany D; New York State
       Psychiatric Institute, Department of Development; Psychobiology, New
       York.
 SO    Ann Ist Super Sanita. 1993;29(3):439-44. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/94226460
 AB    It has long been known that maternal addiction to opiates during
       pregnancy produces passive addiction in the newborn. When the synthetic
       opiate, methadone, became widely used for the treatment of heroin
       addiction, attention was focused on its possible reproductive and
       developmental toxicity. The clinical data clearly indicate that prenatal
       exposure to methadone produces a neonatal abstinence syndrome and that
       the symptoms, characterized by generalized CNS arousal, persist for as
       long as 4-6 month after birth. Long-term neurobehavioral follow-up
       studies to pre-school age have not found any obvious cognitive
       impairments or deficits in IQ. Some of the children, however, may be at
       risk for developing problems of fine motor coordination and attention
       deficit disorder that are likely to lead to poor school performance.
       These effects probably have complex origins and include primary drugs
       effects, postnatal/environmental interactions and genetic
       susceptibilities. Regardless of their interpretation, however, it is
       important to emphasize that from a risk/benefit point of view, most
       workers would agree that methadone maintenance poses far fewer hazards,
       both to the mother and her offspring, than continued abuse of heroin
       with its associated medical complications, psychosocial turmoil, but
       most importantly, risk of HIV infection. Because of their
       pharmacological relevance to the issue of human kinetics, it is hoped
       that the more recent animal studies of prenatal methadone exposure using
       the osmotic mini-pump will shed more light on the problem of
       developmental toxicity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 DE    Animal  Behavior, Animal/*DRUG EFFECTS  Child  Child, Preschool
       *Disease Models, Animal  Female  Heroin Dependence/*DRUG
       THERAPY/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY  Human  Infant  Infant, Newborn
       Methadone/ADMINISTRATION & DOSAGE/*ADVERSE EFFECTS/TOXICITY/
       THERAPEUTIC USE  Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome/ETIOLOGY/*PREVENTION &
       CONTROL  Pregnancy  Pregnancy Complications/*DRUG
       THERAPY/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY  Pregnancy Outcome  Prenatal Exposure Delayed
       Effects  Rats  Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/*DRUG THERAPY/PREVENTION &
       CONTROL  JOURNAL ARTICLE  REVIEW  REVIEW, TUTORIAL

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).