• Alexandra M Yaw, J David Glass, Rebecca A Prosser, and Heather K Caldwell.
• School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State Univ., Kent, OH 44242, United States; Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Behavior, Department of Biological Sciences, Brain Health Research Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States.
• Neuroscience. 2022 Mar 1; 485: 657765-77.

AbstractIt is well established that the damaging effects of drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, can extend beyond the user to their offspring. While most preclinical models of the generational effects of cocaine abuse have focused on maternal effects, we, and others, report distinct effects on offspring sired by fathers treated with cocaine prior to breeding. However, little is known about the effects of paternal cocaine use on first generation (F1) offspring's social behaviors. Here, we expand upon our model of oral self-administered paternal cocaine use to address the idea that paternal cocaine alters first generation offspring social behaviors through modulation of the oxytocin system. F1 cocaine-sired males displayed unaltered social recognition vs. non-cocaine sired controls but showed increased investigation times that were not related to altered olfaction. Paternal cocaine did not alter F1 male-aggression behavior or depression-like behaviors, but cocaine-sired males did display decreased anxiety-like behaviors. Female F1 behavior was similarly examined, but there were no effects of paternal cocaine. Cocaine-sired male mice also exhibited localized oxytocin receptor expression differences vs. controls in several brain regions regulating social behavior. These results provide evidence for effects of paternal cocaine exposure on social behaviors in male offspring with associated alterations in central oxytocin transmission.Copyright © 2022 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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