Tobacco Documents Online

I I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I I I # 102 AUTHOR: THOMAS, W. Ro, P.G. HOLT, J.M. PAPADIMITRIOU, AND D. KEAST DATE: 1972 TITLE: THE EFFECTS OF CIGARETTE SMOKE INHALATION UPON MICE DURING PREGNANCY CITATION: REV. EUROP. L~TUDES CLIN. El" BIOL., XVIIh943-948 (1972) STUDY DESIGN: Three month old female albine mice of the IC strain were used. They were housed individually during the whole experiement, and mated individually with males of the same age and strain. The effects of smoke exposure were studied from two points of view. First, the effect of a fixed daily smoke exposure upon different time portions of the gestation period was examined. Since the results of this study seemed to indicate the need for higher doses of smoke, next the effect exerted upon the whole gestation period by a variety of daily smoke exposures was studied. RNDINGS/RESULTS: No significant differences were observed for fetal weight, numbers or maturity between smoking and control mothers, However, the total maternal weight gain during gestation was markedly lower for smoking animals than for non-smoking controls. This effect is also observed in non- pregnant smoke-exposed mice, whose weight gain for the given period is lower than that of the non-smoking controls. CONCLUSIONS/COMMENTS: The results of this study led the authors to conclude that in the strain of mice employed, daily cigarette smoke inhalation during gestation had no detectable effect upon fetal weight and development. This absence of effects prompted a second experiment to augment the daily cigarette smoke doses, and to use the longest period of treatment, even this study did not lead to significant differences.