Exposure to prenatal carbon monoxide and postnatal hyperthermia: Short and long-term effects on neurochemicals and neuroglia in the developing brain

Abstract

The effects of prenatal exposure to carbon monoxide (CO), a major component of cigarette smoke, was studied alone or in combination with postnatal hyperthermia, on the structural and neurochemical development of the postnatal brain at 1 and 8 weeks. Pregnant guinea pigs (n = 11) were exposed to 200 p.p.m CO for 10 h/day from midgestation until term (68 days), whereas control mothers (n = 10) breathed room air. On postnatal day 4, neonates from the control and CO-exposed pregnancies were exposed to hyperthermia (35°C) for 75 min or remained at ambient (23°C) temperature. Using semiquantitative immunohistochemical techniques the following neurotransmitter alterations were found in the medulla ..