Multigenerational and transgenerational inheritance of drug exposure: The effects of alcohol, opiates, cocaine, marijuana, and nicotine

Abstract

Familial inheritance of drug abuse is composed of both genetic and environmental factors. Additionally, epigenetic transgenerational inheritance may provide a means by which parental drug use can influence several generations of offspring. Recent evidence suggests that parental drug exposure produces behavioral, biochemical, and neuroanatomical changes in future generations. The focus of this review is to discuss these multigenerational and transgenerational phenotypes in the offspring of animals exposed to drugs of abuse. Specifically, changes found following the administration of alcohol, opioids, cocaine, marijuana, and nicotine will be discussed. In addition, epigenetic modifications to the genome following administration of these drugs will be detailed as well as their potential for transmission to the next generation.

Keywords: Drug abuse; Epigenetic; Multigenerational; Transgenerational.

Figure 1. Multigenerational and Transgenerational Phenotypes Following Drug Exposure

Paternal or maternal exposure paradigms are used as a model for inheritance in rodents. F0 males or females exposed to drug prior to mating produce F1 offspring with multigenerational phenotypes and F2 offspring with transgenerational phenotypes (top). F0 females exposed to drug during pregnancy produce F1 and F2 offspring with multigenerational phenotypes and F3 offspring with transgenerational phenotypes (bottom).