Jacobson C D, Antolick L L, Scholey R, Uemura E
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Iowa State University, Ames 50011.
Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1988 Dec 1;44(2):233-9. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(88)90221-0.
Barbiturates, such as phenobarbital (PHB), are often used during pregnancy and early neonatal life to prevent epileptic seizures, hyperbilirubinemia and the stressful effects of labor. However, the long-term consequences of barbiturate exposure during the prenatal and neonatal periods have not been fully investigated. Several studies have indicated that phenobarbital does affect the resulting morphology and neurochemistry of various components of the central nervous system. In the present study we have investigated the effects of 3 days of prenatal phenobarbital administration (days 18-20 of gestation) on the growth and development of dendrites within the CA1 region of the hippocampus in the rat. Pups were sacrificed on days 5, 10, 23, and 35 of postnatal age and the brains were processed for Golgi impregnation of neurons. The terminal and non-terminal segments of apical and basal dendrites of neurons within the CA1 region of the hippocampus were analyzed with the aid of a scanning stage on a Zeiss universal photomicroscope and a PDP 11/23 microcomputer. In general, results indicated that 3 days of prenatal PHB severely suppresses the development of the dendritic tree which normally takes place during the first 35 days of postnatal life. There are significantly less branch points and the overall dendritic length of both apical and basal dendrites is reduced. These results indicate that prenatal PHB, even for short periods of time, affects the normal morphological development of the hippocampus. Thus, the utilization of PHB in the treatment of various human prenatal disorders should be questioned.
巴比妥类药物，如苯巴比妥（PHB），在孕期和新生儿早期常被用于预防癫痫发作、高胆红素血症以及分娩时的应激反应。然而，产前和新生儿期接触巴比妥类药物的长期后果尚未得到充分研究。多项研究表明，苯巴比妥确实会影响中枢神经系统各组成部分的形态和神经化学变化。在本研究中，我们调查了产前给予苯巴比妥3天（妊娠第18 - 20天）对大鼠海马CA1区树突生长和发育的影响。在出生后第5天、10天、23天和35天处死幼崽，对大脑进行处理以对神经元进行高尔基染色。借助蔡司通用显微镜的扫描平台和PDP 11/23微型计算机，分析海马CA1区神经元顶树突和基底树突的终末段和非终末段。总体而言，结果表明产前给予苯巴比妥3天会严重抑制通常在出生后前35天发生的树突发育。分支点显著减少，顶树突和基底树突的总长度均缩短。这些结果表明，即使是短期的产前苯巴比妥暴露也会影响海马的正常形态发育。因此，在治疗各种人类产前疾病中使用苯巴比妥的做法值得质疑。
