Dietary choline during periadolescence attenuates cognitive damage caused by neonatal maternal separation in male rats

Maternal Substance Use and Early-Life Adversity: Inducing Drug Dependence in Offspring, Interactions, Mechanisms, and Treatments

The likelihood of substance dependency in offspring is increased in cases when there is a family history of drug or alcohol use. Mothering is limited by maternal addiction because of the separation. Maternal separation (MS) leads to the development of behavioural and neuropsychiatric issues in the future. Despite the importance of this issue, empirical investigations of the influences of maternal substance use and separation on substance use problems in offspring are limited, and studies that consider both effects are rare. This study aims to review a few studies on the mechanisms, treatments, genetics, epigenetics, molecular and psychological alterations, and neuroanatomical regions involved in the dependence of offspring who underwent maternal addiction and separation. The PubMed database was used. A total of 95 articles were found, including the most related ones in the review. The brain's lateral paragigantocellularis (LPGi), nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate-putamen (CPu), prefrontal cortex (PFC), and hippocampus, can be affected by MS. Dopamine receptor subtype genes, alcohol biomarker minor allele, and preproenkephalin mRNA may be affected by alcohol or substance use disorders. After early-life adversity, histone acetylation in the hippocampus may be linked to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene epigenetics and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs). The adverse early-life experiences differ in offspring›s genders and rewire the brain›s dopamine and endocannabinoid circuits, making offspring more susceptible to dependence. Related psychological factors rooted in early-life stress (ELS) and parental substance use disorder (SUD). Treatments include antidepressants, histone deacetylase inhibitors, lamotrigine, ketamine, choline, modafinil, methadone, dopamine, cannabinoid 1 receptor agonists/antagonists, vitamins, oxytocin, tetrahydrocannabinol, SR141716A, and dronabinol. Finally, the study emphasizes the need for multifaceted strategies to prevent these outcomes.

Reported health, social support, stress and associations with choline intake in pregnant women in central South Africa: the NuEMI study 2018-2019

BACKGROUND

The health and well-being of pregnant women can influence pregnancy outcomes and are closely associated with social support and experiences of stress. Poor nutrition predisposes to poor health with choline intake affecting pregnancy outcome. This study determined reported health, social support, and stress and how these factors are associated with choline intake in pregnancy.

METHODS

A cross sectional study was performed. Pregnant women in their second and third trimesters attending a high-risk antenatal clinic at a regional hospital in Bloemfontein, South Africa, were included. Trained fieldworkers obtained information during structured interviews using standardised questionnaires. Logistic regression with backward selection (p < 0.05) was used to select significant independent factors associated with choline intake. Variables with a p-value < 0.15 in bivariate analysis were considered for inclusion in the model.

RESULTS

Median age and gestation in the sample (N = 682) were 31.8 years and 32.0 weeks, respectively. Most participants (84.7%) consumed less than the adequate intake (AI) of 450 mg of choline per day. Most participants (69.0%) were either overweight or obese. One in eight participants (12.6%) reported not having anyone that could help them in times of need, more than one third (36.0%) reported having unpayable debt and one in twelve (8.4%) reported experiencing physical abuse by their partners. Normotensive participants and those using anti-retroviral therapy (ART) (thus HIV-infected), were more likely to consume choline in amounts below the AI (p = 0.042 and p = 0.011, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of consuming choline in amounts below the AI were lower for participants that were not using ART versus those using ART, with an odds ratio of 0.53.

CONCLUSION

HIV-infected participants were more likely to consume choline in levels below the AI. This vulnerable group should be the focus of targeted efforts to improve choline intake.

Effects of early life adversities upon memory processes and cognition in rodent models

Exposure to stressors in early postnatal life induces long-lasting modifications in brainfunction.Thisplasticity,an essential characteristic of the brain that enables adaptation to the environment, may also induce impairments in some psychophysiological functions, including learning and memory. Early life stress (ELS) has long-term effects on thehypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axisresponse to stressors, and has been reported to lead toneuroinflammation,altered levelsof neurotrophic factors, modifications inneurogenesis andsynaptic plasticity,with changes in neurotransmitter systems and network functioning. In this review, we focus on early postnatal stress in animal models and their effects on learning and memory.Many studies have reported ELS-induced impairments in different types of memories, including spatial memory, fear memory, recognition (both for objects and social) memory, working memory and reversal learning. Studies are not always in agreement, however, no effects, or sometimes facilitation, being reported, depending on the nature and intensity of the early intervention, as well as the age when the outcome was evaluated and the sex of the animals. When considering processes occurring after consolidation, related with memory maintenance or modification, there are a very reduced number of reports. Future studies addressing the mechanisms underlying memory changes for ELS should shed some light on the understanding of the different effects induced by stressors of different types and intensities on cognitive functions.

Choline chloride modulates learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity impairments in maternally separated adolescent male rats

Maternal separation (MS) is a model to induce permanent alternations in the central nervous system (CNS) and is associated with increased levels of anxiety and cognitive deficiencies. Since Methyl donor choline (Ch) has been shown to play a significant role in learning and memory and enhances synaptic plasticity, the authors hypothesized that Ch may attenuate MS-induced impairments in synaptic plasticity and cognitive performance. Rat pups underwent a MS protocol for 180 min/day from postnatal day (PND) 1 to 21. Ch was administered subcutaneously (100 mg/kg, 21 days) to the Choline chloride and MS + Choline chloride groups from PND 29 to 49. Anxiety-like behavior, recognition memory, spatial and passive avoidance learning and memory were measured in the adolescent rats. In addition, evoked field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) were recorded from the CA1 region of the hippocampus. MS induced higher anxiety-like behavior in the animals. It also impaired learning and memory. However, MS had no effect on locomotor activity. Subcutaneous administration of Ch attenuated MS-induced cognitive deficits and enhanced the learning and memory of MS rats. Ch also decreased anxiety-like behavior in the open field test. The present results showed that long-term potentiation (LTP) was induced in all groups except MS and MS + saline animals. However, Ch injection induced LTP and had maintenance in MS + choline chloride, but it was not statistically significant compared with the MS group. In summary, the present findings indicate that MS can interfere with normal animal's cognition and subcutaneous of Ch may be considered an appropriate therapeutic strategy for promoting cognitive dysfunctions in MS animals.

A Systematic Review of the Dietary Choline Impact on Cognition from a Psychobiological Approach: Insights from Animal Studies

The influence of dietary choline availability on cognition is currently being suggested by animal and human studies which have focused mainly on the early developmental stages. The aim of this review is to systematically search through the available rodent (rats and mice) research published during the last two decades that has assessed the effect of dietary choline interventions on cognition and related attentional and emotional processes for the entire life span. The review has been conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines covering peer-reviewed studies included in PubMed and Scopus databases. After excluding duplicates and applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria we have reviewed a total of 44 articles published in 25 journals with the contribution of 146 authors. The results are analyzed based on the timing and duration of the dietary intervention and the behavioral tests applied, amongst other variables. Overall, the available results provide compelling support for the relevance of dietary choline in cognition. The beneficial effects of choline supplementation is more evident in recognition rather than in spatial memory tasks when assessing nonpathological samples whilst these effects extend to other relational memory tasks in neuropathological models. However, the limited number of studies that have evaluated other cognitive functions suggest a wider range of potential effects. More research is needed to draw conclusions about the critical variables and the nature of the impact on specific cognitive processes. The results are discussed on the terms of the theoretical framework underlying the relationship between the brain systems and cognition.

Effects of postnatal ethanol exposure and maternal separation on mood, cognition and hippocampal arborization in adolescent rats

Ethanol exposure and early life stress during brain development are associated with an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders. We used a third-trimester equivalent model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders combined with a maternal separation (MS) protocol to evaluate whether these stressors cause sexually dimorphic behavioral and hippocampal dendritic arborization responses in adolescent rats. Wistar rat pups were divided into four experimental groups: 1) Control; 2) MS (MS, for 3 h/day from postnatal (PND) 2 to PND14); 3) EtOH (EtOH, 5 g/kg/day, i.p., PND2, 4, 6, 8, and 10); 4) EtOH + MS. All animals were divided into two cohorts and subjected to a battery of behavioral tests when they reached adolescence (PND37-44). Animals from cohort 1 were submitted to: 1) the open field test; 2) self-cleaning behavior (PND38); and 3) the motivation test (PND39-41). Animals from cohort 2 were submitted to: 1) the novel object recognition (PND37-39); 2) social investigation test (PND40); and 3) Morris water maze test (PND41-44). At PND45, the animals were euthanized, and the brains were collected for subsequent dendritic analysis. Postnatal ethanol exposure (PEE) caused anxiety-like behavior in females and reduced motivation, and increased hippocampal dendritic arborization in both sexes. MS reduced body weight, increased locomotor activity in females, and increased motivation, and hippocampal dendritic arborization in both sexes. We found that males from the EtOH + MS groups are more socially engaged than females, who were more interested in sweets than males. Altogether, these data suggest that early life adverse conditions may alter behavior in a sex-dependent manner in adolescent rats.

Pharmacological manipulation of DNA methylation normalizes maternal behavior, DNA methylation, and gene expression in dams with a history of maltreatment

The quality of parental care received during development profoundly influences an individual's phenotype, including that of maternal behavior. We previously found that female rats with a history of maltreatment during infancy mistreat their own offspring. One proposed mechanism through which early-life experiences influence behavior is via epigenetic modifications. Indeed, our lab has identified a number of brain epigenetic alterations in female rats with a history of maltreatment. Here we sought to investigate the role of DNA methylation in aberrant maternal behavior. We administered zebularine, a drug known to alter DNA methylation, to dams exposed during infancy to the scarcity-adversity model of low nesting resources, and then characterized the quality of their care towards their offspring. First, we replicate that dams with a history of maltreatment mistreat their own offspring. Second, we show that maltreated-dams treated with zebularine exhibit lower levels of adverse care toward their offspring. Third, we show that administration of zebularine in control dams (history of nurturing care) enhances levels of adverse care. Lastly, we show altered methylation and gene expression in maltreated dams normalized by zebularine. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that epigenetic alterations resulting from maltreatment causally relate to behavioral outcomes.

Maternal separation in rodents: a journey from gut to brain and nutritional perspectives

The developmental period constitutes a critical window of sensitivity to stress. Indeed, early-life adversity increases the risk to develop psychiatric diseases, but also gastrointestinal disorders such as the irritable bowel syndrome at adulthood. In the past decade, there has been huge interest in the gut-brain axis, especially as regards stress-related emotional behaviours. Animal models of early-life adversity, in particular, maternal separation (MS) in rodents, demonstrate lasting deleterious effects on both the gut and the brain. Here, we review the effects of MS on both systems with a focus on stress-related behaviours. In addition, we discuss more recent findings showing the impact of gut-directed interventions, including nutrition with pre- and probiotics, illustrating the role played by gut microbiota in mediating the long-term effects of MS. Overall, preclinical studies suggest that nutritional approaches with pro- and prebiotics may constitute safe and efficient strategies to attenuate the effects of early-life stress on the gut-brain axis. Further research is required to understand the complex mechanisms underlying gut-brain interaction dysfunctions after early-life stress as well as to determine the beneficial impact of gut-directed strategies in a context of early-life adversity in human subjects.

Epigenetic mechanisms in alcohol- and adversity-induced developmental origins of neurobehavioral functioning

The long-term effects of developmental alcohol and stress exposure are well documented in both humans and non-human animal models. Damage to the brain and attendant life-long impairments in cognition and increased risk for psychiatric disorders are debilitating consequences of developmental exposure to alcohol and/or psychological stress. Here we discuss evidence for a role of epigenetic mechanisms in mediating these consequences. While we highlight some of the common ways in which stress or alcohol impact the epigenome, we point out that little is understood of the epigenome's response to experiencing both stress and alcohol exposure, though stress is a contributing factor as to why women drink during pregnancy. Advancing our understanding of this relationship is of critical concern not just for the health and well-being of individuals directly exposed to these teratogens, but for generations to come.