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Gender differences in behavioral changes elicited by prenatal methamphetamine exposure and application of the same drug in adulthood
Author(s) -
Schutová Barbora,
Hrubá Lenka,
Rokyta Richard,
Šlamberová Romana
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21016
Subject(s) - methamphetamine , psychology , prenatal development , physiology , prenatal exposure , medicine , young adult , saline , pregnancy , adult male , endocrinology , developmental psychology , gestation , biology , genetics
The aim of the present study was to compare the response to sub‐chronic application of methamphetamine (MA) in adulthood in male and female rats prenatally exposed to the same drug. The spontaneous locomotor activity and exploratory behavior of adult male and female rats prenatally exposed to 5 mg/kg MA or saline (SAL) were tested in a Laboras apparatus (Metris B.V., Netherlands) for five consecutive days, 1 hr daily. MA 1 mg/kg or SAL were used as a challenge prior to testing. Our results showed that rats prenatally exposed to MA were more sensitive to sub‐chronic administration of MA in adulthood than prenatally SAL‐exposed rats. However, this sensitizing effect of prenatal MA exposure was manifested differently in males and females. In contrast, prenatal MA exposure decreased baseline locomotion in females. This study indicates that gender plays an important role in the sensitivity to MA during prenatal development and in adulthood. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 55: 232–242, 2013