Alteration in the Postnatal Ontogeny of Cerebellar Norepinephrine Content Following Chronic Prenatal Carbon Monoxide

The postnatal ontogeny of norepinephrine content in the cortex and cerebellum was determined in rats exposed prenatally to a chronic low level of carbon monoxide (150 parts per million). In the cerebellum, norepinephrine concentration and total norepinephrine content among carbon monoxide-exposed rats were consistently elevated over that of control rats from the second through the sixth postnatal weeks. In the cortex, norepinephrine concentration and total norepinephrine content among carbon monoxide-exposed rats did not differ from that of control rats over the same period. These results identify the cerebellum as a region whose postnatal development is altered by prenatal exposure to low levels of carbon monoxide-induced hypoxia.