Prenatal exposure to cocaine in mts has previously been shown to alter the
behavioral and hormonal responses to acute stressors, although no work has
yet examined stress adaptation in these animals in adulthood, a possibility
examined in this experiment. Male and female offspring of Sprague-Dawley r
at darns given 40 mg/kg/3 mi subcutaneously daily from gestational days 8-2
0 (C40), saline injected and pair-fed dams (PF), and non-treated dams (NT)
were tested in adulthood (90-120 days). Offspring were given a 5-min open f
ield test 24 h following the last of 1 (Acute), 9 (Chronic) or 0 (control)
daily 15-min intermittent footshock sessions. Substantially more behavioral
adaptation was evident in NT offspring than in C40 and PF animals. The att
enuated stress adaptation seen in C40 offspring extends prior work showing
altered stress responsiveness in these animals, although the PF data cautio
n against the conclusion that this lack of stress adaptation necessarily re
flects gestational exposure to cocaine per se. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science In
c. All rights reserved.