Etemadi-Aleagha A, Akhgari M. Psychotropic drug abuse in pregnancy and its impact on child neurodevelopment: A review. World J Clin Pediatr 2022; 11(1): 1-13 [PMID: 35096542 DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v11.i1.1]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Maryam Akhgari, PhD, Associate Professor, Legal Medicine Research Center, Legal Medicine Organization, No. 2, Misaq Alley, Behesht St, District 12, Tehran 1114795113, Iran. akhgari1349@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Neurosciences
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Pediatr. Jan 9, 2022; 11(1): 1-13 Published online Jan 9, 2022. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v11.i1.1
Psychotropic drug abuse in pregnancy and its impact on child neurodevelopment: A review
Afshar Etemadi-Aleagha, Maryam Akhgari
Afshar Etemadi-Aleagha, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1145765111, Iran
Maryam Akhgari, Legal Medicine Research Center, Legal Medicine Organization, Tehran 1114795113, Iran
Author contributions: Etemadi-Aleagha A contributed to the conception of the research idea, design, paper drafting and revision for important intellectual content; Akhgari M was involved in providing acquisition and interpretation of data, drafting and revision for important intellectual content; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Maryam Akhgari, PhD, Associate Professor, Legal Medicine Research Center, Legal Medicine Organization, No. 2, Misaq Alley, Behesht St, District 12, Tehran 1114795113, Iran. akhgari1349@yahoo.com
Received: February 26, 2021 Peer-review started: February 26, 2021 First decision: April 20, 2021 Revised: April 21, 2021 Accepted: November 29, 2021 Article in press: November 29, 2021 Published online: January 9, 2022
Abstract
Substance abuse by women of child-bearing age and fetal in utero drug exposure has increased in the number of infants born with health issues. Prenatal exposure to psychoactive substances can lead to neurological and neurodevelopmental deficits later in life. Useful data concerning the effects of psychoactive drugs on fetal neurodevelopmental status are sparse. Understanding the neurodevelopmental consequences of prenatally drug-exposed children has become a pressing global concern. The aim of this review is to gather current evidence and information on neurodevelopmental outcomes of in utero drug exposure. A literature search was performed on the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases using the terms “psychotropic drugs”, “neurodevelopmental consequences”, “prenatal drug exposure”, and “pregnancy”. Available studies on in utero drug exposure were reviewed and found to support the idea that some degree of health issues are present in fetuses and children. Different psychoactive substances have profound neurodevelopmental consequences, such as structural brain changes, poor attention span, Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, imbalances in neurotransmitter levels, and many structural deficits. The pervasive use of psychoactive drugs in women of child-bearing age is an important health concern. Further scientific efforts are needed to investigate the effect of prenatal exposure to psychoactive drugs on children.
Core Tip: Use of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy is thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders in children. In utero, drug exposure is related to different factors such as drug dose, its chemical structure that influences the entrance of the drug to the fetus body, drug distribution and elimination. However, neurodevelopmental consequences like autism, Down syndrome and structural deficits are the results of in utero drug exposure. Evidence from previous studies confirmed that in utero drug exposure played a key role in the etiology of neurological problems later in life, providing information and insights for preventing substance abuse in women.
