Intrauterine development in the rat following continuous exposure to nicotine from gestational day 6 through 12.

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with various perinatal complications, but the range of vulnerability to the embryo has not been fully characterized. The effects, in vivo, of continuous exposure to nicotine on postimplantation embryos, were investigated in the rat. Osmotic minipumps, implanted subcutaneously, were used to deliver the nicotine (75 and 150 micrograms/hr) from gestational day 6 through 12, 14 of 16 developmental endpoints, including embryonic growth, were significantly retarded; dysmorphogenesis was not observed. The results reveal that most embryological primordial lagged significantly in their development, following exposure to nicotine during early gestation.