# Lasting Neurological Effects of Perinatal Opioids

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2024 · $718,566

## Abstract

Project Summary
Opioid use, dependence, and addiction have increased to epidemic proportions in recent years, leading to
substantial financial and societal health burdens. More than 20% of pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid are
prescribed opioids; In recent years there was a 14-fold increase in the proportion of pregnant women self-
reporting opioid abuse. As a result, the incidence of infants born to opioid-using mothers has increased >400%
between 2000 and 2012. These newborns are often treated with opioids, further increasing their exposure to
these substances. Infants with intrauterine exposure to opioids have an increased risk for neurodevelopmental
problems or adverse sensory, cognitive, psychomotor, and behavioral outcomes, negative outcomes that last
through childhood, and likely throughout life. Currently, there is virtually no information regarding neural-circuit
adaptations occurring in with opioid exposure during early life.
We developed a mouse model in which animals are treated with fentanyl during a period corresponding to
human gestation. These mice display lasting alterations in emotional behaviors that are specific to sex.
Adolescent males exposed to perinatal fentanyl show enhanced anxiety-like behavior, while adolescent
females show reduced motivation. Our studies will investigate alterations in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
and nucleus accumbens (NAc) circuitry known to be involved in these emotional behaviors. We will investigate
cellular, plasticity, and molecular adaptations in mPFC and NAc cell subtypes in perinatal fentanyl exposed
mice at early post weaning until adolescence. We will target identified molecular adaptations in distinct cell
subtypes to determine their role in circuit and emotional behavioral disruptions occurring with perinatal fentanyl
exposure. Our studies will, for the first time, uncover cellular, circuit, and molecular adaptations occurring after
perinatal exposure to fentanyl and determine the circuitry mediating the long lasting neurobiological anomalies
that occur with perinatal opioid exposure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10891637
- **Project number:** 5R01DA054905-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Seth Abrams Ament
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $718,566
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-30 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10891637

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10891637, Lasting Neurological Effects of Perinatal Opioids (5R01DA054905-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10891637. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*