Prenatal cocaine exposure and cardiometabolic disease risk factors in 18- to 20-year-old African Americans

Objective: The long-term effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on physical health are largely unknown. No human studies support or refute a relationship between PCE and the long-term risk for cardiovascular and/or metabolic disease. We investigated the association of PCE on primary cardiometabolic disease risk factors in African Americans (AA) aged 18 to 20 years. Design: Cohort, longitudinal, prospective. Setting: Miami-Dade County, Florida, and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. Participants: Healthy full-term inner-city AA adolescents (aged 18 to 20 years, N=350) previously enrolled at birth from 1990-1993. Main Outcome Measures: Fasting serum insulin, glucose, lipids, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; systolic and diastolic blood pressures; and the components and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. Results: There were no PCE-associated differences in cardiometabolic disease risk factors including the metabolic syndrome and its individual components in AAs aged 18 to 20 years. Conclusions: The results of our study do not support an association between PCE and increased cardiometabolic disease risk in AAs aged 18 to 20 years. Whether PCE is associated with cardiovascular or metabolic disease in adulthood would require further investigation.