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PubMed1996

Searching for sex differences in the vomeronasal pathway.

The sexual differentiation of brain and behavior is reviewed from the findings of sex differences in the vomeronasal pathway. A motivational approach to sex differences in reproductive behavior is stressed by taking into account that sex differences are present in neural networks: from the receptor organ (the vomeronasal organ) to effector nuclei. Sex differences in the brain appear in two morphological patterns. In one, the male presents greater morphological measurements than the female; in the other, the opposite occurs. These two morphological patterns are actively differentiated by gonadal steroids. The functional significance of these two morphological patterns is addressed. Moreover, since the GABA(A) receptor is involved in the organization of sex differences in vomeronasal structures such as the accessory olfactory bulb and in maternal behavior, the role of membrane mechanisms, 5alpha reduced hormones, and neurosteroids in the sexual differentiation process is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nurse visitation for adolescent mothers: two-year infant health and maternal outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Children of adolescent mothers have higher rates of morbidity and unintentional injuries and hospitalizations during the first 5 years of life than do children of adult mothers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 2-year postbirth infant health and maternal outcomes of an early intervention program (EIP) of home visitation by public health nurses (PHNs). METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, a sample of predominantly Latina and African American adolescent mothers was followed from pregnancy through 2 years postpartum. The experimental group (EIP, n = 56) received preparation-for-motherhood classes plus intense home visitation by PHNs from pregnancy through 1 year postbirth; the control group (TPHNC, n = 45) received traditional public health nursing care (TPHNC). Health outcomes were determined based on medical record data; other measures evaluated selected maternal behaviors, social competence, and mother-child interactions. RESULTS: The total days of non-birth-related infant hospitalizations during the first 24 months was significantly lower in the EIP (143 days) than the TPHNC group (211 days) and episodes of hospitalization were fewer; more EIP than THHNC infants were never seen in the emergency room. The EIP mothers had 15% fewer repeat pregnancies in the first 2 years postbirth than TPHNC mothers. The TPHNC mothers significantly increased marijuana use over time, whereas EIP mothers did not. CONCLUSIONS: The EIP improved in selected areas of infant and maternal health, and these improvements were sustained for a period of 1 year following program termination. These findings have important implications for healthcare services.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Pregnancy intendedness and physical abuse around the time of pregnancy: findings from the pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system, 1996-1997. PRAMS Working Group. Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines whether unintended pregnancy is associated with physical abuse of women occurring around the time of pregnancy, independent of other factors. METHODS: In 1996-1997, state-specific population-based data were obtained from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) from 39,348 women in 14 states who had delivered a live-born infant within the previous 2-6 months. The study questionnaire asked about maternal behaviors and characteristics around the time of pregnancy. RESULTS: Women who had mistimed or unwanted pregnancies reported significantly higher levels of abuse at any time during the 12 months before conception or during pregnancy (12.6% and 15.3%, respectively) compared with those with intended pregnancies (5.3%). Higher rates of abuse were reported by women who were younger, Black, unmarried, less educated, on Medicaid, living in crowded conditions, entering prenatal care late, or smoking during the third trimester. Overall, women with unintended pregnancies had 2.5 times the risk of experiencing physical abuse compared with those whose pregnancies were intended. This association was modified by maternal characteristics, the association was strongest among women who were older, more educated, White, married, not on Medicaid, not living in crowded conditions, receiving first trimester prenatal care, or nonsmoking during the third trimester. CONCLUSIONS: Women with unintended pregnancies are at increased risk of physical abuse around the time of pregnancy compared with women whose pregnancies are intended. Prenatal care can provide an important point of contact where women can be screened for violence and referred to services that can assist them.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Visceral pain in infants.

Visceral pain in infants represents a complexity of interacting neural, developmental, psychosocial, and environmental factors, which must be separately and conjointly evaluated. Inhibitory mechanisms are not fully developed in infants and thus nociception is not readily dampened. Heightened behavioral responses to pain (e.g., crying) are likewise not easily inhibited. Esophageal pain and behaviors perceived by the caregiver to represent pain (e.g., crying and retching) can potentially affect normal growth and development. The response of the infant to pain and other visceral sensory stimuli and the ability to cope with these sensations (painful and nonpainful) are shaped by the relationship of the infant with the primary caregiver, usually the mother. Neural mechanisms of pain transmission and inhibition are reviewed, as well as biopsychosocial and environmental characteristics that can shape or contribute to infant pain syndromes. Proposed multifaceted clinical treatment strategies are aimed at decreasing efforts to dampen excitatory neural sensory signaling and improving the mother/infant relationship and maternal behavioral response to the crying infant.

Brain↗
PubMed1995

Mother as shield: differential effects of contact and nursing on pain responsivity in infant rats--evidence for nonopioid mediation.

To determine how rat mothers protect their pups against pain, we applied focal heat (34-51 degrees C) to the ear or shoulder of 10-day-old rats that were isolated, in contact among themselves or with their mother, suckling nonnutritively, or in the hyperextension position normally caused by milk letdown. Relative to isolated rats, contact doubled withdrawal latencies from heat (43 or 45 degrees C) applied to the ear. Suckling quadrupled heat-escape latencies. During hyperextension, rats essentially did not escape from thermal stimulation of up to 48 degrees C. Protection provided by maternal contact, especially suckling, was not mediated by either mu or kappa opioid receptors: neither systemic injections of naltrexone nor norbinaltorphimine reduced heat-escape latencies. Morphine (0.125 and 0.250 mg/kg) added to the effects of contact but multiplied the effects of suckling to produce heat-escape latencies that were upward of 2 min.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Neonatal toxicity in rats following in utero exposure to chlorphentermine or phentermine.

The administration of chlorphentermine (30 mg/kg) to pregnant rats during the last 5 days of gestation resulted in the development of a phospholipidosis in the lungs of the dams. The disorder developed in utero, as the phospholipidosis was evident in the lungs of the neonates when examined at 12 h postpartum. In contrast, a phospholipidosis was not observed in the lungs of the dams or neonates following phentermine treatment (30 mg/kg). Concurrently, neonates of the chlorphentermine-treated dams displayed a significant decrease in body weight in comparison to controls. Between 16 h and 24 h postpartum, 83% of the neonates of chlorphentermine-treated dams died. Cross-fostering and starvation experiments revealed that the lethality was not due to aberrant maternal behavior by the chlorphentermine-treated dams or malnutrition of the neonates. Histological examinations revealed endothelial and septal alterations in the lungs of neonates from chlorphentermine-treated dams. No signs of toxicity, as evidenced by the maintenance of body weight, or lethality were observed in the neonates of the phentermine-treated dams.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Behavioral effects of hashish in mice. II. Nursing behavior and development of the sucklings.

Adult mice were treated from parturition to weaning of their first litter with a hashish extract containing 40% delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), 45% cannabidiol, 9% cannabinol, and 6% other cannabinoids. Oral administrations of 20 mg delta 9-THC/kg three times a week decreased the weight gain of pups from days 3-6 and 6-10 significantly, resulting in about 15% lower body weights on days 6 and 10 compared with control sucklings. Other parameters of development such as the general appearance of the pups were little affected, except for a slight tendency by day 13, when some additional control pups already had both eyes open. The effects of hashish in sucklings might be caused by drug intake with mother's milk, as well as by a decreased lactation of drugged dams. In addition, our pup retrieving tests at the day 3, 1.5-2 h after the second application of hashish extract, showed a decrease in the mother's locomotive and nonsocial activities and pointed to at least transient impairment of the maternal behavior. By day 10, after the fifth administration of hashish extract, a partial tolerance occurred, with normal care for the young, but still decreased nonsocial activities of the drugged dams. Thus our experiments showed distinct effects of cannabis on mice litters when the parents were drugged postnatally during the period of lactation only.

Aggression↗
PubMed2005

Factors associated with prenatal smoking among black women in eastern North Carolina.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this research was to explore prenatal smoking behaviors among Black women attending prenatal clinics. Despite the racial disparities in poor pregnancy outcomes, and the well-known association of smoking with harmful outcomes, little research has been conducted about prenatal smoking among Black women. METHODS: Women were enrolled in the study and interviewed at the time of the first prenatal visit. The interview contained items to assess prenatal smoking and cessation, depressive symptoms, demographic factors, and beliefs about smoking. Reports of smoking cessation were verified using urinary cotinine. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 811 Black women. Fourteen percent of the women were self-reported smokers, 12.6% reported cessation and 73% were nonsmokers. Twenty percent of the self-reported quitters had elevated cotinine; when these women were reclassified, 17% of the women were smokers. Factors associated with smoking in logistic regression analysis included elevated maternal depressive symptoms (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1-2.6), maternal age 20 years or older (OR = 1.94; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.3), less than a high school education (OR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.2, 3.8), unmarried/not living with a partner (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.0, 3.6), and allowing smoking in the home (OR = 5.5; 95% CI: 3.4, 8.6). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of maternal prenatal smoking was much higher among women in this sample than has been previously reported. The rate of nondisclosure of smoking among self-reported quitters was also high. Maternal behavioral (allowing smoking in the home) and psychosocial factors (depressive symptoms) were associated with prenatal smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Cigarette smoking among women in Oklahoma: before, during, and after pregnancy.

Data from the Oklahoma Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) were assessed to determine the prevalence of maternal cigarette smoking and its relationship to pregnancy outcomes. A mail and telephone questionnaire was used to survey mothers between four and six months postpartum to obtain information about smoking and other maternal behaviors. Monthly samples were drawn from the state's live birth registry utilizing a systematic stratified sampling approach based on infant birth weight. A total of 3,051 responses were received between 1988 and 1990 for an overall return rate of 70%. Results of the study show approximately one-third (32%) of women in Oklahoma smoked 3 months prior to pregnancy, 22% smoked in their last 3 months of pregnancy, and 29% smoked shortly after delivery. Women who smoked during pregnancy were 2.2 times more likely to deliver a low birth weight (LBW) infant than nonsmokers, and 1.4 times more likely to have gained less than the recommended amount of weight. Additionally, women who smoked during pregnancy were 1.4 times more likely to begin prenatal care in the second or third trimester, or to receive no care at all. In conclusion, maternal smoking cessation has the potential for dramatically reducing preventable adverse outcomes of pregnancy.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed2002

Increased hypothalamic neuropeptide Y expression in deprived preweanling rats is reversed by intragastric infusion of milk.

Lean, preweanling Zucker rat pups increase neuropeptide Y (NPY) expression in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus in response to a 24-h deprivation of food, water, and maternal interaction as early as postnatal day 2 (P2). In this study, we examined if replacing nutritive or tactile aspects of maternal behavior to deprived rat pups could block the increased expression of hypothalamic NPY measured by in situ hybridization. On P2, P12, or P15, littermates were assigned to one of four treatment groups: (1) left with the dam for 24 h, (2) deprived of the dam for 24 h and given tactile stimulation in the form of periodic anogenital stroking to elicit urination and defecation, (3) deprived of the dam and given periodic anogenital stroking plus continuous gastric infusion of milk for 24 h, or (4) deprived of the dam and given periodic anogenital stroking plus continuous infusion of water for 24 h. We found that gastric infusions of milk normalized NPY expression at all three ages, gastric infusions of water did not on P2 and P15, and anogenital stroking alone had no effect. We suggest that the lack of milk is the major cause of increased hypothalamic NPY expression during maternal deprivation in lean Zucker pups.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Sex differences in the vomeronasal system.

In the early eighties we found sex differences in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and hypothesized that the vomeronasal system (VNS), a complex neural network involved in the control of reproductive behavior, might be sexually dimorphic. At that time sex differences had already been described for some structures that receive VNO input, such as the medial amygdala, the medial preoptic area, the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, and the ventral region of the premammillary nucleus. Since then, we have shown sex differences in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), the bed nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract (BAOT), and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). When new VNS connections were found, all of them ended in nuclei that present sex differences. In general, sex differences in the olfactory system show two morphological patterns: one in which males present greater morphological measures than females, and just the opposite. To explain the morphometric measures of males in the latter, it has been hypothesized that androgens serve as inhibitors. Our work on the involvement of the GABA(A) receptor in the development of AOB and maternal behavior sex differences also suggests that neonatal changes in neuronal membrane permeability to the ion Cl- differences. This might be the first animal model to help us to understand the situation in which human genetic and gonadal sex do not agree with brain and behavioral sex. Finally, we stress that sex differences in the VNS constitute a neurofunctional model for understanding sex differences in reproductive behaviors.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

In utero cocaine exposure: a thorny mix of science and mythology.

Fetal cocaine exposure has proven to be an area of medicine that has generated more heat than light. Although many reports associate cocaine with a variety of isolated structural anomalies, there is no detectable syndromic clustering, raising doubts about a real causal association or a specific teratogenic action. Potential confounding variables, including the abuse of other drugs, pregnancy deprivations, and socially patterned maternal behaviors, have limited the reliability of observational studies, making it difficult to demonstrate effects solely attributable to cocaine. The clinical expression of in utero cocaine exposure is contextual, critically dependent on the biology/environment interplay. The present work summarizes the fetal structural anomalies that have been associated in the literature with cocaine use during pregnancy, and reviews the putative mechanisms of fetal impairment secondary to cocaine exposure. The final discussion of methodologic issues in cocaine epidemiology highlights the need for innovative approaches to assure that the myths conjured up about "crack babies" are replaced with reliable, high-quality scientific data.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1998

Stress, emotional support and coping behavior of mothers with disabled pre-school children--mothers at outpatient department.

This study focuses on overt and covert problems experienced by mothers with disabled pre-school children and the resources that are available for coping with them. The aim of this study is to facilitate the coping behaviors of these mothers in order to improve their life-styles and well-being. The scores of the Home Care Resources Inventory (HCRI) of mothers with disabled preschool children were compared with those of a control group of mothers with normal kindergarten-aged children. The results of the HCRI survey indicated the following: 1) The major source of strength for the mothers with disabled children was the availability of a social support network, which consisted mainly of their own mothers and grandmothers, 2) The mothers with disabled children had insufficient time and little respite for themselves, and 3) Emotional support from mothers who shared the same experiences was effective for coping with problems associated with the acceptance of disabled children. The support of health care professionals, however, had little effect in helping the mothers who were under stress, though they could help to change such mothers' attitudes. There was a possibility to facilitate mothers' coping skills if mothers with disabled children could get effective support at appropriate times. These results support the concept of empowerment (Rappaport 1984, Kieffer 1984). Further study is needed on ways to introduce this concept into nursing as well as to systematize procedures in routine nursing practice for releasing maternal behavior.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Influence of maternal proximity on behavioral and physiological responses to separation in infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

The effects of maternal proximity on the behavioral and physiological responses of infant rhesus macaques during 4 days of total or adjacent separations from the mother were studied. The 6 infants tested showed behavioral responses that differentiated the two separation conditions. Major differences were found in the quantity and quality of vocalizations, the occurrence of cage-biting and cage-shaking behavior, object exploration, and hunched and freezing postures. In particular, the structure of coo vocalizations clearly discriminated between the presence or the absence of the mother during separation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of dopamine and serotonin metabolites did not discriminate between the two separation conditions but showed a transient elevation at 24 hr after separation and were not different from baseline by 96 hr after separation. In contrast, both the plasma cortisol and the CSF norepinephrine metabolite responses tended to be greater and to persist for a longer period of time when infants were totally isolated. The results are discussed within the context of attachment and coping theories.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Early interactions between drug-involved mothers and infants. Within-group differences.

OBJECTIVE: To explore differences in maternal characteristics, mother-infant interaction, and infant development within a group of women who used cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco during pregnancy and their infants. DESIGN: Prospective survey. SETTING: Countywide, voluntary, home-based clinical intervention program. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two mother-infant pairs identified through a risk-assessment screen who participated in the program for 1 year. VARIABLES: Maternal characteristics, neonatal characteristics, interactional measures (Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale and Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scale), and developmental assessment (Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 1 year). RESULTS: The majority of women were black, single, and unemployed. Fifteen (47%) of the infants were born prematurely; four (13%) were small for gestational age. Mean Bayley Scales of Infant Development scores were as follows: the mental development index was 99.8, and the psychomotor development index was 102.4. Older mothers (r = .41, P = .04), mothers of higher parity (r = .42, P = .02), and mothers who were more actively involved in the program (r = .41, P = .04) had higher scores on the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Feeding Scale. Mothers who were better educated (r = .49, P = .009) and mothers who were more active in the program (r = .44, P = .02) had higher scores on the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scale. Several of the subscales of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scale were significantly associated with scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. CONCLUSIONS: For this group of substance-exposed infants whose mothers were receiving support services, developmental skills at 1 year were age appropriate. Despite drug abuse and poverty, there was some variability in the ability of mothers to provide a developmentally supportive environment for their infants. Those who were better organized to support infant development had infants who performed better on global developmental assessments.

Child Development↗
PubMed1997

Trait anxiety, negative emotions, and the mothers' adaptation to an infant born subsequent to late pregnancy loss: a case-control study.

Women with (n = 27) a history of late pregnancy loss (> or = 20 weeks) due to congenital anomalies who had completed the subsequent pregnancy with a live-birth were compared with a group of mothers with newborns without such a history (n = 29) at 4 and 16 weeks post-partum. The following aspects were assessed; depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and mother-infant adaptation. The women with a previous pregnancy loss showed significantly more negative emotions than the women without such a history. In addition, they considered that their healthy baby experienced more problems with sleeping, crying, eating, and acquiring a regular pattern of this behaviour than the average baby. They also perceived their baby as being less ideal than the women without a previous pregnancy loss. These problems were particularly present 4 weeks post-partum and were significantly positively related to trait anxiety. The implications of this study are that in women with a history of late pregnancy loss, family physicians and welfare officers should be made aware of possible problems in the mother and in mother-infant adaptation shortly after a normal live-birth, particularly in those with high trait anxiety. They will then be able to arrange psychological support at an early stage.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Strain and sex differences in the morphology of the medial preoptic nucleus of mice.

The medial preoptic nucleus (MPO), which is involved in sexual and maternal behaviors, contains neuronal clusters that have been described as being sexually dimorphic in size and neuropeptide content in a variety of species. A subnucleus in DBA/2J (D2) inbred mice, called the pars compacta of the MPO (MPOpc), is absent in C57BL/6J (B6) inbred mice (Robinson et al. [1985] J. Neurogenet. 2:381-388). We report here on experiments that further characterize strain and sex differences in medial preoptic morphology in D2 and B6 inbred mice. A prominent MPOpc, located within the caudal part of the MPO and dorsal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, was present in both male and female D2 animals but was absent from B6 animals. MPOpc neurons were darkly stained for Nissl substance and larger than neurons in the surrounding MPO. In D2 brains, galanin-immunoreactive (-ir), oxytocin-ir, vasopressin-ir, and NADPH diaphorase-positive neurons were concentrated within the MPOpc. Fewer similar neurons in the comparable region of the MPO of B6 mice suggests that the absence of the MPOpc is due to absence of these neurons rather than a less compact organization. In D2 animals, the density of galanin-ir neurons in the MPOpc was sexually dimorphic, with higher numbers of galanin-ir neurons in females. Strain differences in galanin-ir, oxytocin-ir, vasopressin-ir, and NADPH diaphorase staining appeared to be limited to the MPOpc. Cholecystokinin-immunoreactive neurons, which have been reported to be numerous in the sexually dimorphic central subdivision of the MPO of rats, were sparse in the MPO of D2 and B6 mice. Confirmation of the MPOpc as an accessory magnocellular neurosecretory nucleus was obtained by finding labeling of MPOpc neurons after injection of DiI into the posterior pituitary.

Animals↗