Maternal continuous oral oxycodone self-administration alters pup affective/social communication but not spatial learning or sensory-motor function

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence 2021-04, Vol.221, p.108628-108628, Article 108628
• Main Authors: Zanni, Giulia, Robinson-Drummer, Patrese A., Dougher, Ashlee A., Deutsch, Hannah M., DeSalle, Matthew J., Teplitsky, David, Vemulapalli, Aishwarya, Sullivan, Regina M., Eisch, Amelia J., Barr, Gordon A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Affect - drug effects; Analgesics, Opioid - administration & dosage; Analgesics, Opioid - adverse effects; Analgesics, Opioid - blood; Animal behavior; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Avoidance behavior; Behavior change; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Chemical communication; Cognition; Communication; Coordination; Dams; Disease Models, Animal; Dosage; Drug withdrawal; Emotional behavior; Female; Infants; Irritability; Juveniles; Latency; Learning; Litter; Male; Males; Management; Maternal behavior; Mothers; Motor ability; Motor skill learning; Motor task performance; Narcotics; Neonatal abstinence syndrome; Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome - etiology; Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome - psychology; Neonates; Neurological complications; NOWS; Offspring; Olfactory discrimination learning; Opioid-Related Disorders - drug therapy; Opioids; Oral self-administration; Oxycodone; Oxycodone - administration & dosage; Oxycodone - adverse effects; Oxycodone - blood; Perinatal; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - drug therapy; Rats; Self Administration; Sensorimotor integration; Serum; Spatial discrimination learning; Spatial Learning - drug effects; Stimulus; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - prevention & control; USV; Vocalization behavior
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108628

•Oxycodone use by women of child-bearing age is increasing, as is NOWS.•Female dams drink oxycodone in their water to achieve a steady intake.•Drunk before/during pregnancy and after birth, pups & dams have oxycodone in blood.•Pup sensory-motor function and cognition are largely unaffected by treatment.•Pup affective responses to stress and during withdrawal are increased by treatment. The broad use/misuse of prescription opioids during pregnancy has resulted in a surge of infants with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). Short-term irritability and neurological complications are its hallmarks, but the long-term consequences are unknown. A newly-developed preclinical model of oxycodone self-administration enables adult female rats to drink oxycodone (∼10/mg/kg/day) before and during pregnancy, and after delivery, and to maintain normal liquid intake, titrate dosing, and avoid withdrawal. Oxycodone was detected in the serum of mothers and pups. Growth parameters in dams and pups and litter mass and size were similar to controls. There were no differences in paw retraction latency to a thermal stimulus between Oxycodone and Control pups at postnatal (PN) 2 or PN14. Oxycodone and Control pups had similar motor coordination, cliff avoidance, righting time, pivoting, and olfactory spatial learning from PN3 through PN13. Separation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations at PN8 revealed higher call frequency in Oxycodone pups relative to Control pups (p