Prenatal cocaine exposure causes sex-dependent impairment in the myogenic reactivity of coronary arteries in adult offspring.

ABSTRACT: Cocaine abuse is a significant problem among pregnant women. The present study tested the hypothesis that prenatal cocaine exposure impairs myogenic reactivity of coronary arteries in adult offspring. Pregnant rats received cocaine (30 mg kg(-1) day(-1)) or saline from days 15 to 21 of gestational age, and experiments were conducted in 3-month-old offspring. In pressurized coronary septal arteries, the diameter and vessel wall intracellular Ca2+ concentrations were measured simultaneously in the same tissue as a function of intraluminal pressure. Cocaine did not affect KCl-induced contractions of coronary arteries in either males or females but decreased the distensibility in male vessels. In male offspring, cocaine treatment resulted in a significant decrease in pressure-dependent myogeni

SUBMITTER: Xiao D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2768326 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature