The effects of opioid exposure during pregnancy on offspring: review article

Pregnancy, as one of the crucial periods in the mother and fetus life, is extremely vulnerable to impairments such as drugs abuse. Every year, a large number of drug-addicted newborns are born due to motherchr(chr('39')39chr('39'))s addiction. Drug abuse during pregnancy leads to appearance of several negative consequences for baby, such as an increased risk of preterm birth and congenital deficits. On the other hand, it affects the cognitive development of children like learning and memory, attention, language, problem solving skills and execuative functions by causing impairments in the central nervous system learning, memory and attention of the fetus and it also leads to cognitive and behavioral disorders such as depression, hyperactivity and anxiety. Opioids are lipophilic drug, whereas the placental membrane is a lipoprotein, diffused from maternal to fetal compartments easily. Prenatal exposure to opioids delays the growth and development of the brain and neural structures in the embryonic or postnatal period.
Considering the effect of maternal addiction on all aspects of health and susceptibility to addiction in later life of children, efforts to prevent, treatment and control drug abuse in pregnancy are essential. Therefore, in the present article, the effects of prenatal exposure to opioids on cognitive functions are reviewed.