Fentanyl has unfortunately found its next victim – newborn babies, according to a study.
At least 10 babies, and possibly more than 12, are thought to have had birth defects linked to fentanyl exposure in the womb, NBC reported.
The findings, published in Genetics in Medicine Open, said six babies were identified at Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington, Delaware; two in California; one in Rhode Island and the other in Massachusetts.
The baby had physical defects including a cleft palate, unusually small body and head, drooping eyelids and an upturned nose, and a small lower jaw.
Additionally, their feet point downward and inward, and their two toes are webbed. Geneticists say they rule out a genetic cause, specifically a genetic variant called Smith-Lemli-Optitz.
One thing the babies have in common is that their mothers admitted to using street drugs, including fentanyl.
This baby has birth defects related to suspected fentanyl exposure.
“No common genetic or genomic abnormalities were identified, but prenatal fentanyl exposure was shared among pregnancies,” said researchers from Nemours Children’s Hospital, who authored the study.
Although infants do not have the Smith-Lemli-Optitz variant, their disabilities are similar to those with the variant.
Dr. Karen Gripp Nemours, a geneticist, and Erin Wadman, a genetic counselor, believe that fentanyl may also interfere with cholesterol metabolism during pregnancy.
“Although the effect of fentanyl on cholesterol metabolism has not been directly tested, based on indirect evidence it is biologically plausible that it affects cholesterol metabolism in the developing fetus,” the authors said.
The babies have inward-facing feet that point down.
The babies tested positive for fentanyl at birth and were most likely exposed to it during pregnancy.
Wadman was first able to link all the pregnancies to possible fentanyl exposure in August 2022, after seeing a baby with birth defects that reminded him of other patients he had seen.
“I’m sitting there on a date, and I’m just, like, ‘This face looks so familiar. This story is so familiar.’ And I was just thinking how this patient reminded me of a patient I saw earlier this year and then another patient I saw,” Wadman told NBC.
“That’s when we, like, we thought we might have stumbled onto something really big here.”
Fentanyl has led to an alarming increase in drug overdose deaths. Sherry Young – stock.adobe.com
However, they have yet to confirm their findings. Wadman said it’s possible the fentanyl was mixed with something else that caused the deformity, or that the mothers were also taking other street drugs.
Even diseases caused by the Zika mosquito can cause some deformities, such as small heads, although there is no evidence to suggest that Zika plays a role.
Researchers think they’re on to something, but they still need to do more research.
The study authors could not confirm whether fentanyl was the cause.
Experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha believe they may soon be able to determine the validity of the fentanyl theory.
Dr. Karoly Mirnics, director of UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute, is studying the effects of certain drugs on cholesterol metabolism. He plans to look at the blood of the babies identified in the Nemours study.
Fentanyl — whether it causes birth defects or not — has led to an alarming increase in overdose deaths.
The defect is similar to that seen in a genetic condition called Smith-Lemli-Opitz, although no genetic cause has been found.
Strong opioid painkillers are the suspected cause of 70,601 overdose deaths in 2021, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced. Fentanyl is everywhere. From large metropolitan areas to rural America, no community is safe from this poison,” Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Anne Milgram said on the DEA’s website.
“We must take every opportunity to spread the word to prevent excess deaths and poisonings related to fentanyl from claiming so many American lives every day.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
