Sons of men who take cocaine YEARS before pregnancy 'suffer profound memory damage in the womb'
- Male mice whose fathers took cocaine had issues with memory formation
- It was far more acute than in daughters of male cocaine users
- Scientists say it is down to epigenetic changes the drug causes in users, which are passed down through sperm
Men who use cocaine risk having sons with learning disabilities, scientists warn.
A new study has found the drug's damaging impacts on DNA can be passed on through sperm, hampering the fetus's brain development.
Intriguingly, the effects were far more common in the sons of male cocaine users than their daughters, or than any child of a female cocaine user.
While scientists are still trying to determine the timeline, this research builds on previous studies that show cocaine has a lingering effect on DNA, which can last for years after use.
Male mice whose fathers took cocaine had issues with memory formation
Senior author Dr R. Christopher Pierce, a professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, worked with a team to test the theory on mice.
Sixteen male rates were allowed to self-administer cocaine daily through drinking water for 60 days. Another 16 drank saline solution.
They then mated with females who had not taken drugs.
Paternal cocaine-taking had no effect on the litter size, sex ratio, or growth development.
However, out of the 46 total litters, the male babies which had been exposed to cocaine experienced significant issues with memory formation.
Taking a closer look, they saw the expression of genes which are important for memory formation had been altered.
Male rates whose fathers took cocaine had far lower levels of D-serine, a molecule essential for memory.
Once the researchers replenished the levels of D-serine in the sons' hippocampus, they saw improved learning in these animals.
Dr Pierce and his colleagues propose that epigenetic mechanisms are at the root of the problem.
Epigenetics refers to heritable traits that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence, as is the case with genetic inheritance.
DNA is tightly wound around proteins called histones, like thread around a spool.
Chemical changes to histones influence the expression of genes. That is an epigenetic process.
The researchers found that cocaine abuse in dads broadly altered the chemical marks on histones in the brain of their sons, even though the offspring were never exposed to cocaine.
These chemical modifications on the histones allowed more production of the enzyme D-amino acid oxidase, which degrades the memory molecule D-serine.
'These results suggest that the sons of male cocaine addicts may be at risk for learning deficits,' Dr Pierce said.
However, he said, the fact that extra doses of D-serine gave a boost to the baby mice was heartening.
'There is substantial interest in the development of D-serine and related compounds, which are well tolerated by humans, as drug therapies.
'The ability of D-serine to reverse the adverse effects of paternal cocaine taking on learning adds potential clinical relevance to our research.'
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