Effects of cocaine and ethanol on mouse fetuses.

In the presence of ethanol, cocaine is metabolized to its ethyl homolog, cocaethylene. To investigate the embryotoxic effects of cocaethylene, pregnant ICR mice receiving ethanol orally during pregnancy were treated with 50 mg/kg/day cocaine i.p. on days 7, 8 and 9 of gestation. Treatment with either cocaine or ethanol alone did not affect the fetal mortality rate or the mean fetal body weight. Concurrent cocaine and ethanol treatment increased the fetal mortality rate, and decreased the mean fetal body weight, although teratogenicity was not noted. These results suggest that concurrent use of cocaine and ethanol during pregnancy is more harmful to fetal body weight gain and their lives than the use of either drug alone, at least in the present experimental settings.