Steroids that induce lung maturation acutely affect higher cortical function: a fetal magnetoencephalography study

• Published in: Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 18; no. 1; p. 99
• Main Authors: Schneider, Uwe, Arnscheidt, Christian, Schwab, Matthias, Haueisen, Jens, Seewald, Hans Joachim, Schleussner, Ekkehard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-01-2011
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Betamethasone - adverse effects; Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; Cerebral Cortex - embryology; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Contraindications; Evoked Potentials, Auditory; Female; Fetal Organ Maturity; Gestational Age; Glucocorticoids - adverse effects; Humans; Lung - embryology; Magnetoencephalography; Male; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Obstetric Labor, Premature; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome
• ISSN: 1933-7205
• DOI: 10.1177/1933719110381140

To investigate whether steroids that induce lung maturation have acute effects on higher cortical function in the human fetus.
Cortical auditory-evoked responses (CAERs) were recorded from 10 singleton fetuses between 29 and 34 gestational weeks by fetal magnetoencephalography (fMEG) using transabdominal auditory stimulation prior to and within 3 hours after administering 2 × 12 mg of betamethasone, at an interval of 18 and 24 hours.
The components of the CAER complex were categorized according to their latency: P2pm (186 + 20 ms, 90%), N2pm (260 + 34 ms, 50%), P3pm (474 + 36, 50%). In almost all of these cases the peak latencies of the fetal P2pm (P = .042) and P3pm (P = .043) were delayed after exposure to betamethasone (Wilcoxon rank test). The trend was also observable in N2pm (P = .08).
Administration of betamethasone to expectant mothers was associated with acute change in higher cortical functions in the exposed fetuses. Implications regarding functional brain development need further evaluation.