PEPTIDES | Seizure Susceptibility is Altered by Exposure to Morphine during Mid to Late Gestation Period in the Rat

Opiate abuse in pregant women has dire consequences on their developing fetuses. This paper summarizes the effects of gestational morphine exposure on seizure susceptibility in exposed rat offsprings. In all of our reviewed seizure studies, pregnant dams were treated with 5–10 mg per kg morphine or physiological saline two times per day during mid to late gestation – a period that corresponds with early gestation period in human and marks the development of μ-opioid receptors. Our seizure results are consistent with clinical data showing that there is a critical period for seizure onset and changes in existing epilepsy at puberty. Further, the results showed that mid- to late-gestation morphine exposure induces long-term alterations in several CNS systems.