THE RABBIT AS A MODEL FOR STUDIES OF COCAINE EXPOSURE IN-UTERO

The rabbit has been used to model the potential effects of in utero ex posure to cocaine on fetal and postnatal development, Special advantag es of this animal model include the fact that cocaine can be easily ad ministered intravenously, thus mimicking crack cocaine use by pregnant women. Results indicate that at the dosage used (8 mg\kg of body weig ht, given intravenously daily) gross teratologic defects do not develo p. Cocaine-exposed pregnant does do not differ from controls in weight gain or in the number of live kits delivered. Cocaine-exposed kits do not differ from controls in survival or in postnatal weight gain. The importance of this rabbit model is that offspring that have been expo sed to these doses of cocaine in utero have a variety of abnormalities in structure and function of the central nervous system in the absenc e of any major teratologic defects.