Effects of maternal chlorpromazine on offspring nervous system development.

Administration of chlorpromazine (7 mg/kg/day) to rat dams from day 8 of pregnancy until the pups were weaned produced small but statistically significant decreases in litter size and birth weight. The difference in pup weight was no longer present at the time of weaning. The offspring of chlorpromazine-treated dams were less able to maintain body temperature in response to restrained cold stress as determined when they were 60–65 days of age. They also incorporated significantly less¹⁴C from tyrosine into heart norepinephrine during acute cold exposure. No differences in incorporation of ¹⁴C into norepinephrine from tyrosine were evident when the animals were not subjected to cold stress. Similarly treated offspring did not have an increase in superior cervical ganglion tyrosine hydroxylase activity after 48 hr of cold exposure while the offspring of control dams did have a significant increase in the activity of this enzyme. These data suggest that maternal administration of chlorpromazine produces a permanent alteration in the ability of the offspring to respond to cold stress and that this deficit is related to an alteration in nervous system development.