Role of oxygen free radicals in cocaine‐induced vascular disruption in mice

To test the hypothesis that cocaine-induced embryonic vascular disruption is mediated by oxygen free radicals, the antioxidants 2-axothiazolodine-4-carboxylate (OTC) and α-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone (PBN) were employed. When cocaine (78 mg/kg) was administered an day 8 of gestation to ICR mice and embryos evaluated on day 10 (in vivo), 62.3% of cocaine-treated embryas showed increased vasodilation compared to 4.9% for controls, and 33.1% of the cocaine-exposed embryos showed marked hemarrhage compared to 3.3% for controls. In addition, cocaine increased the incidence of neural defects, in the form of open neural tube, hypoplastic prosencephalon, and microcephaly