Prenatal Morphine Exposure Increases Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Programs Neurogenic Hypertension in the Adult Offspring

Background: The opioid overdose and opioid use disorder epidemics are concomitant with increased metabolic and CVD risk. Although opioid use disorder causes adverse pregnancy outcomes, the offspring’s cardiovascular health is understudied. We hypothesized that offspring exposed to in utero morphine exposure (IUME) would show increased CVD risk factors and endogenous opioid system dysregulation. Methods: Sprague Dawley dams were treated with saline (vehicle, n=10) or escalating doses of morphine (5–20 mg/kg per day, SC, n=10) during gestation. Cardiovascular and metabolic parameters were assessed in adult offspring. Results: Litter size and pups’ birth weight were not different in response to IUME. Female and male IUME offspring showed reduced body length at birth ( P <0.05) and body weight from weeks 1 to 3 of life ( P <0.05), followed by a catch-up growth effect. By week 16, female and male IUME rats showed reduced tibia length ( P <0.05) and fat mass. IUME increases the mean arterial pressure and the depressor response to mecamylamine (5 mg/kg per day, IP) induced by IUME were abolished by a chronic treatment with an alpha-adrenergic receptor blocker (prazosin; 1 mg/kg per day, IP). Although circulating levels of angiotensin peptides were similar between groups, IUME exacerbated maximal ex vivo Ang (angiotensin) II–induced vasoconstriction ( P <0.05) and induced endothelial dysfunction in a sex-specific manner ( P <0.05). Proenkephalin, an endogenous opioid peptide that lowers blood pressure and sympathetic-mediated vasoconstriction, showed reduced mRNA expression in the heart, aorta, and kidneys from morphine versus vehicle group ( P <0.05). Conclusions: Among the effects of IUME, neurogenic hypertension, vascular dysfunction, and metabolic dysfunction could be associated with the dysregulation of the endogenous opioid system.