Impact of Adolescent Nicotine Exposure in Pre- and Post-natal Oxycodone Exposed Offspring

Developmental outcomes with perinatal exposure (DOPE) to prescription opioids

“…Specifically, buprenorphine is associated with increased infectivity of HIV in clinical evaluations of patient PBMCs [ 83 ]. As mentioned, PCR of brain tissue in POE offspring demonstrated a distinct phenotype with altered reactivity to nicotine, a typically neuroprotective substance [ 84 ]. However, research has yet to characterize the reactivity of these cells to viral or bacterial infection.…”

“…These studies revealed that the severity of these impacts is influenced by the duration and timing of opioid exposure, with acutely exposed offspring experiencing more substantial and enduring deficits. Additionally, Flores and colleagues presented data from early adolescence using the same oxycodone exposure models, highlighting the significantly impaired sociability and responses to environmental stress compared to social stress among exposed offspring [ 78 , 84 ]. A summary of DOPE impacts is shown in Figure 3 .…”

“…One critical knowledge gap pertains to the cumulative impact of added life stresses on POE offspring. While recent research by Flores et al has indicated that nicotine and other low-dose stimulants may not cause immediate harm to adolescent-exposed offspring, their vulnerability to other psychoactive substances like alcohol, anesthetics, and future analgesic use remains poorly understood [ 84 ]. These substances have been implicated in recent bioinformatics studies focused on the transcriptional and translational level [ 54 , 78 , 95 , 96 ].…”