Impact of maternal substance use on offspring's cardiovascular health

Abstract

Substance use (SU) during pregnancy is on the rise, posing significant risks to the developing fetus. The adverse impact of maternal alcohol and nicotine use during the perinatal period on offspring health has been well established, including their associations with adverse cardiovascular health in offspring. However, limited studies examine the impact of other well-known SU utilized during pregnancy on offspring's cardiovascular health. This review summarizes the proposed mechanism of action of four commonly utilized substances: cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and opioids, and their cardiovascular impact. Furthermore, we will review the current understanding of the adverse impact of substance use during pregnancy on offspring's cardiovascular system based on existing studies. This review will also highlight possible molecular mechanisms underlying the in-utero adverse programming of offspring's cardiovascular system secondary to SU in pregnancy and address the gaps in current understanding of how SU adversely impacts the developing cardiovascular system of offspring in utero.

Keywords: Cardiovascular; Cocaine; Marijuana; Methamphetamine; Opioids; Substance use.