Important note: Information in this article was accurate in September 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, September 11, 2000
Prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports
NewsRx -- Prolonged exposure to AZT in utero has been found to produce selective effects on the developing central nervous system (CNS) in a murine model.
"The aim of the present study was to extend previous findings, analyzing the long-term effects of a more prolonged AZT exposure on intraspecific male mice agonistic behavior," wrote A. Venerosi and colleagues, Ist Super Sanita, Laboratory Fisiopatol Organo & Sistema, Italy.
Pregnant CD-1 mice were administered AZT orally twice daily at a dose of 160 mg/kg in a 0.9% NaCl saline solution. Starting on postnatal day (PND) 60, the researchers put prenatally-exposed males that had been isolated in the company of an AZT-unexposed opponent of the same age and strain that had been isolated for the same amount of time. These encounter interactions lasted 15 minutes and were repeated five times.
In addition, Venerosi's group also conducted a locomotor activity test (PND 67) and a hot-plate test (52 ± 0.1°C) (PND 74) to assess any effects AZT had on general activity and pain sensitivity.
The researchers found that perinatally-exposed mice had a reduced attack behavior when they reached adulthood. This increased the likelihood of them behaving as subordinates when placed in encounters with other male mice ("Prolonged perinatal exposure to AZT affects aggressive behavior of adult CD-1 mice," Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2000 Jul;150(4):404-11.
Venerosi et al. also observed that AZT treatment had long-term effects on pain sensitivity. In the hot-plate tests, AZT exposed mice had higher pain thresholds than did control mice.
"Overall, these data indicate that perinatal exposure to drugs such as AZT exerts selective effects on the developing CNS, resulting in long-term behavioral disturbances," concluded Venerosi et al. "Future studies will need to address the issue of the specific mechanisms underlying these effects."
The contact person for this report is E. Alleva, Ist Super Sanita, Laboratory Fisiopatol Organo & Sistema, Section of Behavioral Pathophysiology, Viale Regina Elena 299, I-00161 Rome, Italy.
A search of the www.NewsRx.com online database using the terms "perinatal" and "AZT" yielded 56 articles.
Key points reported in this study are:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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