This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Grove, K. L. Articles by Spindel, E. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Grove, K. L. Articles by Spindel, E. R.

Chronic Maternal Nicotine Exposure Alters Neuronal Systems in the Arcuate Nucleus That Regulate Feeding Behavior in the Newborn Rhesus Macaque

Division of Neuroscience (K.L.G., H.S.S., R.S.B., J.A.K., M.S.S., E.R.S.), Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, and Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology (M.S.S., E.R.S.) and Pathology (H.S.S.), Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Kevin L. Grove, Ph.D., Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, 505 NW 185th Avenue, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-5384. E-mail: grovek{at}ohsu.edu

Abstract

It is well known that maternal smoking during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight and low body fat in human newborns. The purpose of this study was to determine whether chronic maternal nicotine treatment alters levels of known regulators of energy balance in the newborn offspring. Pregnant rhesus monkeys were treated with nicotine tartrate (1.5 mg/kg·d) starting on d 26 of pregnancy and maintained through d 160 of gestation. Nicotine exposure had no significant effect on absolute birth weights of the neonatal monkeys, although there was a 10% reduction in birth weights with nicotine exposure when they were normalized to maternal weight. Postnatal d 1 plasma leptin levels were significantly reduced by about 50% in the nicotine treatment group compared with saline controls, suggesting that the infant monkeys exposed to nicotine may also have lower body fat levels. In situ hybridization studies demonstrated that chronic nicotine exposure resulted in a significant decrease in arcuate NPY mRNA expression in the neonatal monkeys. In addition, there was a 2-fold increase in POMC mRNA in the arcuate nucleus in the nicotine-exposed group. These data suggest that nicotine exposure during pregnancy may increase energy expenditure in the developing fetus through actions on hypothalamic systems, resulting in lower birth weights and body fat levels.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. J Reilly, J. Armstrong, A. R Dorosty, P. M Emmett, A Ness, I Rogers, C. Steer, A. Sherriff, and for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Chi Early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: cohort study BMJ, June 11, 2005; 330(7504): 1357. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. C. Whitaker Predicting Preschooler Obesity at Birth: The Role of Maternal Obesity in Early Pregnancy Pediatrics, July 1, 2004; 114(1): e29 - e36. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]