FETUS DAMAGED BY SINGLE DOSE OF SPEED

TORONTO -- A single dose of the drug speed during pregnancy could be enough
to cause long-term problems in babies, according to University of Toronto
researchers.

Pregnant mice exposed only once to methamphetamine had offspring with
reduced motor co-ordination and other neurodevelopmental effects.

"We've known for a while that meth abuse during pregnancy is associated
with low birth weight, cleft palates and other malformations, but this is
the first research demonstrating that even a single exposure can cause
long-term damage," Peter Wells, a University of Toronto pharmacy and
pharmacology professor, said yesterday in a news release. "It's pretty
remarkable that a single low dose can have such an effect."

He said the findings are of particular concern because of an increasing use
of so-called club drugs, like speed, by women of child-bearing age. And it
appears the developing child is vulnerable from the embryonic stage --
before a woman may even know she is pregnant -- through to the later fetal
period.

"It has clinical implications, because it shows that the fetus is
exquisitely sensitive," Wells said.

The research led by Wells is published in the August issue of Free Radical
Biology and Medicine.

The researchers believe a developing fetus can be affected because it
hasn't yet produced the enzymes that protect it against free radicals.

The research was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research.