THE MOUSE AS A MODEL TO INVESTIGATE NEUROBEHAVIORAL EFFECTS FROM PRENATAL EXPOSURE TO PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS

The finding of medications being taken during pregnancy, either inadve rtently or intentionally, is common despite the understanding that mos t drugs cross the placenta easily. The possibility exists that prenata l exposure to a subtoxic, yet clinically relevant, dose of a prescript ion medication may lead to neurobehavioral impairments in the offsprin g. In vivo observations in humans and in vitro experiments using human or large animal tissues either are not possible or are insufficient t o answer questions about any long term and subtle alterations. The mou se model holds promise for delineating and, perhaps, for better unders tanding events related to developmental difficulties. Using this relat ively simple model, any medication in question may be administered at a time during gestation which is similar to that in the human. Another group, treated with either a placebo or a similar medication or witho ut any therapy, should serve as a control group. Assessments of sensor y, motor, motivation/anxiety, cognition, and social functions in expos ed offspring may be made during the neonatal, juvenile, and adult peri ods. The battery of screening tasks to search for drug-induced functio nal effects is conceptually comparable in humans. Limitations and futu re directions are described using this model.