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Possamai-Della T, Cararo JH, Aguiar-Geraldo JM, Peper-Nascimento J, Zugno AI, Fries GR, Quevedo J, Valvassori SS. Prenatal Stress Induces Long-Term Behavioral Sex-Dependent Changes in Rats Offspring: the Role of the HPA Axis and Epigenetics. Mol Neurobiol 2023; 60:5013-5033. [PMID: 37233974 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-023-03348-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Preclinical genetic studies have related stress early exposures with changes in gene regulatory mechanisms, including epigenetic alterations, such as modifications of DNA methylation, histone deacetylation, and histones acetylation. This study evaluates the effects of prenatal stress on the behavior, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, and epigenetic parameters in stressed dams and their offspring. The rats were subjected to a protocol of chronic unpredictable mild stress on the fourteenth day of pregnancy until the birth of offspring. After birth, maternal care was evaluated for six days. Following weaning, the locomotor and depressive-like behaviors of the dams and their offspring (60 days old) were assessed. The HPA axis parameters were evaluated in serum from dams and offspring, and epigenetic parameters (histone acetyltransferase (HAT), histone deacetylase (HDAC), DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activities, and the levels of histone H3 acetylated at lysine residue 9 (H3K9ac) and histone 3 acetylated at lysine residue 14 (H3K14ac)) were assessed in dams' and offspring' brains. Prenatal stress did not significantly influence maternal care; however, it induced manic behavior in female offspring. These behavioral alterations in the offspring were accompanied by hyperactivity of the HPA-axis, epigenetic adaptations in the activity of HDAC and DNMT, and acetylation in the histones H3K9 and H3K14. In addition, the prenatal stressed female offspring showed increased levels of ACTH compared to their male counterpart. Our findings reinforce the impact of prenatal stress on behavior, stress response, and epigenetic profile of offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taise Possamai-Della
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil
| | - José Henrique Cararo
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil
| | - Jorge M Aguiar-Geraldo
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil
| | - Jefté Peper-Nascimento
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil
| | - Alexandra I Zugno
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil
| | - Gabriel R Fries
- Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA
- Translational Psychiatry Program, Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA
| | - João Quevedo
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil
- Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA
- Translational Psychiatry Program, Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA
- Center for Interventional Psychiatry, Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston), Houston, TX, USA
| | - Samira S Valvassori
- Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNESC), Criciúma, SC, Brazil.
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Chicks from stressed females elicit overprotective behaviour in adoptive mother quail. Behav Processes 2020; 179:104193. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
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Sajjadi FS, Aghighi F, Vahidinia Z, Azami-Tameh A, Salami M, Talaei SA. Prenatal urban traffic noise exposure impairs spatial learning and memory and reduces glucocorticoid receptor expression in the hippocampus of male rat offspring. Physiol Int 2020; 107:209-219. [PMID: 32750028 DOI: 10.1556/2060.2020.00022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Introduction Exposure to noise stress during early life may permanently affect the structure and function of the central nervous system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of prenatal exposure to urban traffic noise on the spatial learning and memory of the rats' offspring and the expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in their hippocampi. Methods Three g\roups of pregnant rats were exposed to recorded urban traffic noise for 1, 2 or 4 h/day during the last week of pregnancy. At the age of 45 days, their male offspring were introduced to the Morris water maze (MWM) for assessment of spatial learning and memory. The corticosterone levels were measured in the offspring's sera by radioimmunoassay, and the relative expression of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) in their hippocampi was evaluated via RT-PCR. Results Facing urban traffic noise for 2 and 4 h/day during the third trimester of pregnancy caused the offspring to spend more time and to travel a larger distance than the controls to find the target platform. Analogously, these two groups were inferior to their control counterparts in the probe test. Also, prenatal noise stress elevated the corticosterone concentration in the sera of the rats' offspring and dose-dependently decreased the relative expression of the mRNA of both GRs and MRs in their hippocampi. Conclusions Urban traffic noise exposure during the last trimester of pregnancy impairs spatial learning and memory of rat offspring and reduces GRs and MRs gene expression in the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- F S Sajjadi
- 1Physiology Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - F Aghighi
- 1Physiology Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Z Vahidinia
- 2Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - A Azami-Tameh
- 2Anatomical Sciences Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - M Salami
- 1Physiology Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - S A Talaei
- 1Physiology Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
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Bagley JR, Adams J, Bozadjian RV, Bubalo L, Kippin TE. Strain differences in maternal neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to stress and the relation to offspring cocaine responsiveness. Int J Dev Neurosci 2019; 78:130-138. [PMID: 31238105 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2019.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Early life stress exposure, including prenatal stress (PNS), influences subsequent risk for many disorders, including substance abuse, and these effects interact with genetic factors to determine risk for disease. We previously demonstrated gene X environmental interactions across the BXD recombinant inbred mouse strain panel and their progenitor strains in PNS modulation of cocaine-induced reward and locomotion. Critical to dissecting genetic interactions with PNS is consideration of the modes of stress transmission to the offspring. Both maternal neuroendocrine responses during stress and subsequent maternal-offspring interactions following stress may serve as transmission modes for PNS-induced changes in cocaine responsiveness. Therefore, we characterized the maternal stress response by measuring restraint stress-induced plasma corticosterone (CORT) during gestation as well as effects of restraint stress on dam-pup contact in the first 10 postnatal days in BXD and progenitor mouse strains. Restraint stress interacted with strain to affect plasma CORT levels and dam-pup contact, indicating heritable variation of the maternal stress response. Furthermore, strain-level variance in maternal stress response correlated to the impact on cocaine response exhibited by adult offspring. These findings implicate multiple modes of maternal stress response in alterations of offspring drug responsiveness and indicate that assessment of maternal endocrine and behavioral responses during early life can be utilized to dissect the complex intersection of maternal factors, the response of the offspring and genetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared R Bagley
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
| | - Julia Adams
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
| | - Rachel V Bozadjian
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
| | - Lana Bubalo
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
| | - Tod E Kippin
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
- Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
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Crispel Y, Shaoul R, Khamaise R, Sabo E, Hochberg Z. Effect of weaning age on the small intestine mucosa of rats. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2019; 44:985-989. [PMID: 30689399 DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2018-0454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Weaning of mammalian progeny is associated with a change in food composition and mother-offspring separation. Weaning results in a critical period of low voluntary feed intake, during which the animal is adapting to the starter diet. To evaluate the effects of weaning age on morphological changes that occur in the intestines of rats, we assessed intestinal histomorphometry and somatic growth in 21-days-old pups and 90-days-old mature rats that had been weaned early (day 16), normally (day 21), or late (day 26). Early weaning resulted in deeper crypts, lower villous/crypt ratio, and a smaller villous area on day 21. Crown-tail length correlated positively with the crypt depth and negatively with the villous/crypt ratio. At age 90 days, early weaned animals had shallower crypts, a greater villous/crypt ratio, and a smaller villous area compared with their normally weaned counterparts. The rats' crown-tail length correlated negatively with the crypt depth and positively with the villous/crypt ratio. Early weaning significantly affects the intestinal mucosa, which may impact food absorption and lead to differences in somatic growth compared with late weaning. Over time there may be a phase of compensation with increased villus height and crypt depth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonatan Crispel
- Neurophysiology Unit, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.,Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel
| | - Ron Shaoul
- Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel.,Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Institute, Ruth's Children's Hospital of Haifa, Rambam Medical Center, POB 9602, Haifa 31096, Israel
| | - Ranya Khamaise
- Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel
| | - Edmond Sabo
- Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel.,Pathology Institute, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ze'ev Hochberg
- Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel
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Hernández-Arteaga E, Hernández-González M, Rentería MLR, Almanza-Sepúlveda ML, Guevara MA, Silva MA, Jaime HB. Prenatal stress alters the developmental pattern of behavioral indices of sexual maturation and copulation in male rats. Physiol Behav 2016; 163:251-257. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2016] [Revised: 05/06/2016] [Accepted: 05/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Del Cerro MCR, Ortega E, Gómez F, Segovia S, Pérez-Laso C. Environmental prenatal stress eliminates brain and maternal behavioral sex differences and alters hormone levels in female rats. Horm Behav 2015; 73:142-7. [PMID: 26163152 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2015] [Revised: 06/29/2015] [Accepted: 07/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Environmental prenatal stress (EPS) has effects on fetuses that are long-lasting, altering their hormone levels, brain morphology and behavior when they reach maturity. In previous research, we demonstrated that EPS affects the expression of induced maternal behavior (MB), the neuroendocrine system, and morphology of the sexually dimorphic accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) involved in reproductive behavior patterns. The bed nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract (BAOT) is another vomeronasal (VN) structure that plays an inhibitory role in rats in the expression of induced maternal behavior in female and male virgins. In the present study, we have ascertained whether the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neuromorphological alterations of the AOB found after EPS also appear in the BAOT. After applying EPS to pregnant rats during the late gestational period, in their female offspring at maturity we tested induced maternal behavior, BAOT morphology and plasma levels of testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (Cpd B). EPS: a) affected the induction of MB, showed a male-like pattern of care for pups, b) elevated plasma levels of Cpd B and reduced E2 in comparison with the controls, and c) significantly increased the number of BAOT neurons compared to the control females and comparable to the control male group. These findings provide further evidence that stress applied to pregnant rats produces long-lasting behavioral, endocrine and neuroanatomical alterations in the female offspring that are evident when they become mature.
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Affiliation(s)
- M C R Del Cerro
- Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - E Ortega
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Avda. de Madrid s/n°, Granada, Spain
| | - F Gómez
- Centro de Salud Joaquín Rodrigo, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Área 11 AP, Madrid, Spain
| | - S Segovia
- Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - C Pérez-Laso
- Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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Gobinath AR, Mahmoud R, Galea LAM. Influence of sex and stress exposure across the lifespan on endophenotypes of depression: focus on behavior, glucocorticoids, and hippocampus. Front Neurosci 2015; 8:420. [PMID: 25610363 PMCID: PMC4285110 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2014] [Accepted: 12/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex differences exist in vulnerability, symptoms, and treatment of many neuropsychiatric disorders. In this review, we discuss both preclinical and clinical research that investigates how sex influences depression endophenotypes at the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neural levels across the lifespan. Chronic exposure to stress is a risk factor for depression and we discuss how stress during the prenatal, postnatal, and adolescent periods differentially affects males and females depending on the method of stress and metric examined. Given that the integrity of the hippocampus is compromised in depression, we specifically focus on sex differences in how hippocampal plasticity is affected by stress and depression across the lifespan. In addition, we examine how female physiology predisposes depression in adulthood, specifically in postpartum and perimenopausal periods. Finally, we discuss the underrepresentation of women in both preclinical and clinical research and how this limits our understanding of sex differences in vulnerability, presentation, and treatment of depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aarthi R Gobinath
- Program in Neuroscience, Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Rand Mahmoud
- Program in Neuroscience, Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Liisa A M Galea
- Program in Neuroscience, Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada ; Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
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