Abstract
Abstract Background: Drug abuse during pregnancy is a growing problem in all developed countries worldwide. Maternal drug abuse affects the developing systems and the associated long-term effects can persist untill adulthood, decreasing the rate of their maturation.
Objective: To determine the effects of prenatal morphine exposure on spatial learning
Methods: Eighteen pregnant rats were divided into morphine, saline, and control groups. Morphine or saline was administrated (S.C) to female rats twice a day (at 12-hr intervals) during the days 11-18 of their gestational period (5 mg/kg morphine for the first 3 days and 10 mg/kg for further 5 days). Pups (P90, n=6) were trained in an 8-arm radial maze apparatus.The data were analyzed statistically using Chi-square test.
Findings: The results indicated that prenatal morphine exposure causes a reduction in the time needed to learn these trials however, they needed more time to complete regular trials.
Conclusion: Prenatal morphine exposure impairs normal spatial learning.
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Copyright
© 2024, Journal of Inflammatory Diseases. This open-access article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0) International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which allows for the copying and redistribution of the material only for noncommercial purposes, provided that the original work is properly cited.