Introduction. Zolpidem is a new sedative drug with agonistic effect on GABA A receptor on brain. Pregnant women may use zolpidem during pregnancy. Some teratogenic effects of this drug have been noticed in human newborns in some cases reports. The aim of this study is a research on histological effects of zolpidem on newborn rat brain. Materials and Methods. The pregnant females are randomly classified into four groups: 1-control with saline injection intraperitoneal (i,p), 2-Treated with zolpidem (5 mg/kg, i.p), 3-Treated with zolpidem (10 mg/kg, i.p), 4-Treated with zolpidem (20 mg/kg, i.p). Saline and zolpidem was injected intraperitonealy from zero day for constitutive 10 days. After all injections finished the rats were allowed to give birth to their newborns. Immediately after birth, newborns were fixed by a fixator (formalin). Then specimen sectioning and histological analysis were done. Results. There were differences between control and test group qualitatively but quantitative analysis should be done. Conclusion. Zolpidemis a sedative drug with agonistic effects on GABA A receptors of central nervous system. It has been shown that this receptor is important in normal development of nervous system and this study indicates that zolpidem treatment during pregnancy may interfere in normal development of nervous system.

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