Maternal high-fat or low-protein diets promote autism-related behavior and altered social behavior within groups in offspring male mice.

Maternal malnutrition has been associated with neurodevelopmental deficits and long-term implications on the offspring's health and behavior. Here, we investigated the effects of maternal low-protein diet (LPD) or obesity-inducing maternal high-fat diet (HFD) on dyadic social interactions, group organization and autism-related behaviors in mice. We found that maternal HFD induced an autism-related behavioral phenotype in the male offspring, including a robust decrease in sociability, increased aggression, cognitive rigidity and repetitive behaviors.

Fetal endocrine axes mRNA expression levels are related to sex and intrauterine position.

Background: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and -gonadal (HPG) axes are two major pathways that connect the neural and endocrine systems in vertebrates. Factors such as prenatal stress and maternal exposure to exogenous steroids have been shown to affect these pathways during fetal development. Another less studied factor is the transfer of hormones across fetuses in multifetal pregnancies.

THE EFFECT OF 4-VINYLCYCLOHEXENE DIEPOXIDE ON FEMALE NUTRIA () FERTILITY IN CAPTIVITY-A PILOT STUDY.

The nutria () is a globally widespread invasive species. Attempts to eradicate nutria by shooting, poisoning, and trapping have been mostly unsuccessful, leading to calls for the development of new control methods. The compound 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) is known to cause follicular atresia in mammals and may control conception when administered orally.

Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters: Sex-specific genetic architecture for fetal testosterone in a wild mammal.

Testosterone plays a critical role in mediating fitness-related traits in many species. Although it is highly responsive to environmental and social conditions, evidence from several species show a heritable component to its individual variation. Despite the known effects that in utero testosterone exposure have on adult fitness, the heritable component of individual testosterone variation in fetuses is mostly unexplored.

Evolution of Embryo Implantation Was Enabled by the Origin of Decidual Stromal Cells in Eutherian Mammals.

Mammalian pregnancy evolved in the therian stem lineage, that is, before the common ancestor of marsupials and eutherian (placental) mammals. Ancestral therian pregnancy likely involved a brief phase of attachment between the fetal and maternal tissues followed by parturition-similar to the situation in most marsupials including the opossum. In all eutherians, however, embryo attachment is followed by implantation, allowing for a stable fetal-maternal interface and an extended gestation.

Non-model species deliver a non-model result: Nutria female fetuses neighboring males in utero have lower testosterone.

Neighboring fetuses may impact their siblings in various respects, depending on their in utero location and sex. The effects of the intrauterine position (IUP) are widely studied in model organisms, especially laboratory bred murine strains that are characterized by short gestations and altricial offspring. In some species, the proximity to a male fetus and its higher circulating testosterone masculinizes neighboring female fetuses.

MATERNAL DEPRESSION AND CHILD OXYTOCIN RESPONSE; MODERATION BY MATERNAL OXYTOCIN AND RELATIONAL BEHAVIOR.

Background: Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) carries long-term detrimental effects on children's well-being, yet the mechanisms of transmission remain unclear. One possible pathway of vulnerability involves the oxytocinergic (OT) system, which is transferred from mother to child via sensitive caregiving and is disrupted in PPD.

Method: A large birth cohort (N = 1983) of women were repeatedly assessed for depression from birth to 6 years.