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Abstract
Objective: To measure the effect of multiple courses of antenatal betamethasone, used for lung maturation, on long-term cognition of mice offspring. Methods: Forty gravid CD-1 mice were randomly assigned to receive one of four treatments ( n = 10 per group): 0.1 mg betamethasone or saline placebo, given subcutaneously either once daily on gestational days 13-16 or twice daily on days 14 and 15. This dose of betamethasone given on gestational day 14 causes fetal lung maturation in mice. Three offspring per gender in each litter underwent standard cognitive tasks as juveniles and as adults. Analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis testing was used to compare data. Results: Learning acquisition and memory were indistinguishable between the betamethasone-exposed and the corresponding placebo-exposed offspring when performing the following tasks: juvenile runway with adult memory, adult water runway and Morris spatial maze. This lack of difference in task performance between treatment groups persisted after controlling for gender and for each multiple-course regimen. Conclusion: Multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids did not impact the mouse offsprings' long-term learning and memory.