Brain Metabolite Changes in Infants Exposed in Utero to Methamphetamine And/or Nicotine

Steven Buchthal¹, Thomas Ernst, Lynn M. Anderson¹, Christine Cloak¹, Riley Kitamura¹, Linda Chang¹

Proton Spectroscopy was used to assay brain biochemistry in neonates exposed in utero to methamphetamine and/or nicotine. We measured the concentrations of NAA, Cr, Cho, Myo-I and Glx in five regions of non-sedated sleeping infants. The stimulant-exposed infants had 21% more Myo-I in their motor track than control infants, p<.0001. NAA, Cr and Glx showed correlations with age in all regions. Myo-I showed a correlation with age only in the motor track where stimulant-exposed infants tended to have higher levels (p=0.06). The presence of prenatal stimulants led to a significant slowing of NAA accumulation in the frontal gray region (p=0.02). These data suggest slower or abnormal brain development in infants exposed to stimulants in utero.