Morphine Perinatal Exposure Induces Long-Lasting Negative Emotional States in Adult Offspring Rodents
Nair C. F. Castro,
Izabelle S. Silva,
Sabrina C. Cartágenes,
Luanna M. P. Fernandes,
Paula C. Ribera,
Mayara A. Barros,
Rui D. Prediger,
Enéas A. Fontes-Júnior,
Cristiane S. F. Maia
Affiliations
Nair C. F. Castro
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Izabelle S. Silva
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Sabrina C. Cartágenes
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Luanna M. P. Fernandes
Departamento de Ciências Morfológicas e Fisiológicas, Centro das Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS), Universidade Estadual do Pará, Belém 66087-662, Brazil
Paula C. Ribera
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Mayara A. Barros
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Rui D. Prediger
Departamento de Farmacologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, Brazil
Enéas A. Fontes-Júnior
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Cristiane S. F. Maia
Laboratório de Farmacologia da Inflamação e do Comportamento, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém 66075-900, Brazil
Psychoactive substances during pregnancy and lactation is a key problem in contemporary society, causing social, economic, and health disturbance. In 2010, about 30 million people used opioid analgesics for non-therapeutic purposes, and the prevalence of opioids use during pregnancy ranged from 1% to 21%, representing a public health problem. This study aimed to evaluate the long-lasting neurobehavioral and nociceptive consequences in adult offspring rats and mice exposed to morphine during intrauterine/lactation periods. Pregnant rats and mice were exposed subcutaneously to morphine (10 mg/kg/day) during 42 consecutive days (from the first day of pregnancy until the last day of lactation). Offspring were weighed on post-natal days (PND) 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60, and behavioral tasks (experiment 1) or nociceptive responses (experiment 2) were assessed at 75 days of age (adult life). Morphine-exposed female rats displayed increased spontaneous locomotor activity. More importantly, both males and female rats perinatally exposed to morphine displayed anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors. Morphine-exposed mice presented alterations in the nociceptive responses on the writhing test. This study showed that sex difference plays a role in pain threshold and that deleterious effects of morphine during pre/perinatal periods are nonrepairable in adulthood, which highlights the long-lasting clinical consequences related to anxiety, depression, and nociceptive disorders in adulthood followed by intrauterine and lactation morphine exposure.
