Institute for Research in Child Development

The Drugs and Infancy Study

The team

• Professor Lynn Singer and her team at Case Western Reserve University, US
• Professor Derek Moore and the team from the Institute for Research in Child Development (UEL)
• Dr John Turner from the Recreational Drugs Team (UEL)
• Professor Andy Parrott from the University of Swansea.
• Key staff who have also worked on the project are: Dr Julia Goodwin; Dr Sarah Fulton; and Dr Meyoung O Min.
• Research assistants on the project were: Fleur Braddick; Emma Axelsson; Alice Toplis; Caroline Frostick & Helena Ribiero.

Overview of the study

The main focus of the study was on the effects that the drug MDMA (ecstasy) might have on infants. Studies in animals have shown that ecstasy can deplete the level of serotonin, which is important neurotransmitter for many brain functions, including gross motor control. Serotonin carries nerve impulses between cells, which regulate mood states, sleep and anxiety. Early in fetal development, serotonin plays a vital role in brain formation. If the level and behavior of serotonin is altered, it may have long-term effects on learning and memory. Ecstasy is such a widely used drug throughout the world, that if prenatal exposure is shown to be harmful, many infants could be affected.

The study recruited pregnant women from across the UK through a variery of sources, but mostly from pregnancy magazines. Women had taken a variety of drugs including cannabis and ecstasy. Mothers were interviewed about their drug use during pregnancy. Babies were assessed when 1, 4, 12 & 18 months old.

Funding

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the US National Institutes of Health.

Findings

We have reported on the profiles of maternal poly drug use and on early infant outcomes. Infants exposed to MDMA appear to be more likely to show differences in their quality of movement (motor activity) at 4 months and these motor problems persist to 12 months; and at 12 months there were also cognitive differences. For details use the links below:

Profiles of drug use in pregnancy

Birth and infant cognitive outcomes

The 4 month old findings findings were published in Neurotoxicology and Teratology.

Twelve month findings were published in Pediatrics

Also see our press release (28-02-12)

 

Impact

The findings of the study have been publicised via a number of media around the world including on pregnancy, health and and drug information websites. List of links to websites picking up on the findings. The findings have also lead to press interest.

Publications and conference presentations from the project

1. Singer, L.T., Moore, D. G., Min, M.O., Goodwin, J., Turner, J. J.D., Fulton, S. Parrott, A.C.. One year outcomes of prenatal exposure to MDMA and other recreational drugs. Pediatrics, 2012;130:407-413. online publication, August 20, 2012, DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-0666.
2. Singer, L.T., Moore, D.G., Fulton, S, Goodwin, J.E., Toplis, A.S.,Axelsson, E.L., Braddick, F.M.B., Turner, J.J.D., & Parrott, A.C. (2012) Recreational Drug Use and Neurobehavioral Outcomes of MDMA (Ecstasy) Exposed Infants.Neurotoxicology and Teratology. 34, 303-310
3. Moore, D.G., Turner, J.J.T. et al (2011) In-utero exposure to the popular ‘recreational’ drugs  MDMA (Ecstasy) and Methamphetamine (Ice, Crystal): preliminary findings . In Philip Preece and Ed Riley (Eds). Alcohol, Drugs and Medication in Pregnancy: The Outcome For The Child.  John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-10:1-898683-88-3
4. Moore, D.G., Turner, J.J.T., Parrott, A.C, Goodwin, J.E., Fulton, S.E. Min, , M.O., Fox, H.C.,  Braddick, F.M.B., Toplis, A., Axelsson, E.L., Lynch, S., Ribeiro, H.,Frostick, C.J. & Singer L.T. (2010) During pregnancy, recreational drug-using women stop taking ecstasy (MDMA) and reduce alcohol consumption but continue to smoke tobacco and cannabis. Journal of Psychopharmacology 24(9) 1403-1410
5. Singer, L. T., Goodwin, J., Moore, D., Min, M. O., Parrott, A. C., Turner, J., et al. (2008). Neuroehavioral outcomes of infants exposed prenatally to MDMA. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 30(3), NBTS23.
6. Singer, L.T., Goodwin, J., Moore, D., Min, M.O., Parrott, A., Turner, J., Fulton, S. Neurobehavioral outcomes of infants exposed prenatally to MDMA. Poster presented at the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society Meeting (NBTS), June 29-July 2, 2008, Monterey, California.
7. Ribeiro, H., Goodwin, J.E., Turner, J.J.D., Moore, D.G., Lynch, S., Braddick, F.M.B., Toplis, A.S., Axelsson, E.L., Fulton, S., Min, M.O., Singer, L.T., Parrott, A.C. Exposure to recreational drugs in utero: Revised neurobehavioral outcomes from the DIASY project (Abstract and Poster Presentation). British Association of Pharmacology Annual Meeting, 2008.
8. Moore, D.G. (2007) Issues in studying long term outcomes of drug use during pregnancy. Workshop: BACCH Annual Scientific Meeting, Reading University, 25th & 26th September 2007 http://www.bacch.org.uk/downloads/conferences/asm2007_programme.pdf
9. Singer, L.T., Moore, D., Goodwin, J., Parrott, A., Turner, J., Fulton, S., Braddick, F., Toplis, A., Axelsson, E., Min, M.O. MDMA use during pregnancy and early infant outcomes. Presented as a Poster Symposium at the International Society on Infant Studies Annual Meeting, June 19-23, 2006, Kyoto, Japan.
10. Moore, D.G. (2006) Infants exposed to MDMA (Ecstasy), cannabis and other recreational drugs during pregnancy. Invited talk to McKeith meeting on Fetal exposure to neuroactive substances and teratogens: Effects on the developing brain. Royal Society of Medicine, London, Nov.
11. Singer, L.T., Parrott, A., Moore, D., Turner, J., Goodwin, J. Maternal patterns of recreational MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) use during pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ Meeting (PAS-SPR), May 14-17, 2005.
12. Bassindale et al (2005) Simultaneous detection and quantitation of 14 drugs and metabolites from a single hair sample; use in determining drug use during pregnancy. International Association of Forensic Toxicologists, Korea
13. Goodwin,J.E., Braddick,F.M.B., Turner,J.J.D., Moore,D.G., Toplis,A.S., Axelsson,E.L.,Parrott, A.C. Singer, L.T., Fulton, S. (2005) Patterns of recreational drug use during pregnancy. Conference of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology. Amsterdam
14. Moore, D.G., Goodwin, J.E., Toplis, A.S., Axelsson, E.L., Braddick, F.M.B., Fox, H.C., Turner, J.J.D., Parrott, A.C., Singer, L.T., Fulton, S., and Farkas, K. (2004)  The developmental consequences of prenatal exposure to MDMA and 'recreational' drugs: Observations on participant recruitment. International Conference of Infant Studies, Chicago. published abstact: ISBN 0-8058-5326-x
15. Singer, L.T., Farkas, K., Fulton, S., Min, M.O., Linares, T.J., Parrott, A.C., Moore, D.G., Goodwin, J.E., Axelsson, E.A., Braddick, F.M.B., Fox, H.C. Toplis, A.S., Turner, J.J.D. (2004).  Prenatal exposure to MDMA (Ecstasy) and other ‘recreational’ drugs: initial findings. International Conference of Infant Studies, Chicago. published abstact: ISBN 0-8058-5326-x

---

© 2008