Cerebral cortical abnormalities seen in a non-human primate model of prenatal cocaine exposure are not related to vasoconstriction.

In our previous studies [J. Comp. Neurol. 435 (2001) 263] we demonstrated that rhesus monkeys born to mothers receiving cocaine orally during the period of pregnancy when neurons destined for the cerebral neocortex were generated displayed inappropriate positioning of neocortical neurons, loss of normal neocortical lamination, and reduction in neocortical volume, density and total number of neocortical neurons. In the present paper, we examined whether these cytoarchitectural abnormalities were related to the relatively high blood levels of the cocaine metabolite, benzoylecgonine, associated with oral cocaine administration. We also evaluated the role of vasoconstriction of the uteroumbilical and fetal brain vessels in the generation of these abnormalities. For these purposes, we compared cerebral neocortical cytoarchitecture in 2-month-old monkeys from five groups of mothers: (1). a drug-naïve group, (2). a cocaine-treated group, (3). a group treated with benzoylecgonine at doses producing higher blood levels of this metabolite and stronger vasoconstriction that those in the cocaine-treated group, (4). a group treated with cocaine plus the vasodilator, isosorbide dinitrate, which counteracted the vasoconstrictive actions of cocaine, and (5). a group exposed to isosorbide dinitrate alone. All treatments were carried out from the 45 th through 102 nd day of pregnancy. We found that the general appearance of the neocortex and the position and number of neocortical neurons in the offspring of benzoylecgonine- and isosorbide dinitrate-treated mothers were indistinguishable from those in the offspring of drug-naïve mothers. In contrast, significant alterations in these parameters (similar to those seen in our previous studies) were observed in the offspring of cocaine and cocaine + isosorbide dinitrate-treated mothers. These findings suggest that it is unlikely that either benzoylecgonine or vasoconstriction are responsible for the abnormalities seen in the neocortical cytoarchitecture in our non-human primate model of prenatal cocaine exposure.