Pre-gestational stress alters stress-response of pubertal offspring rat in sexually dimorphic and hemispherically asymmetric manner.

Background: There is increasing evidence that maternal stress may have long-term effects on brain development in the offspring. In this study, we examined whether pre-gestational stress might affect offspring rats on the medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) dopaminergic activity in response to acute stress in puberty and if so, whether such effects exhibited hemispheric asymmetry or sexual dimorphism.

Results: We used behavioral tests to assess the model of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS).

Mechanisms of neuroprotection from hypoxia-ischemia (HI) brain injury by up-regulation of cytoglobin (CYGB) in a neonatal rat model.

This study was designed to investigate the expression profile of CYGB, its potential neuroprotective function, and underlying molecular mechanisms using a model of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) brain injury. Cygb mRNA and protein expression were evaluated within the first 36 h after the HI model was induced using RT-PCR and Western blotting. Cygb mRNA expression was increased at 18 h in a time-dependent manner, and its level of protein expression increased progressively in 24 h.

Pre-gestational stress reduces the ratio of 5-HIAA to 5-HT and the expression of 5-HT1A receptor and serotonin transporter in the brain of foetal rat.

Background: Many studies have found that stress before or during pregnancy is linked to an increased incidence of behavioural disorders in offspring. However, few studies have investigated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and the serotonergic system as a consequence of pregestational stress. In the present study, we investigated the effect of pre-gestational stress on HPA axis activity in maternal rats and their foetuses and examined whether changes in HPA axis activity of maternal rats produced functional changes in the serotonergic system in the brain of foetuses.

Chronic unpredictable stress before pregnancy reduce the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in hippocampus of offspring rats associated with impairment of memory.

To investigate the effect of stress before pregnancy on memory function and serum corticosterone (COR) levels, as well as the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) 2A (NR2A) and 2B (NR2B) receptors in the hippocampus of the offspring rats when they were 2 months postnatally. Adult female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided randomly into two groups: control group (n = 8) and chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) group (n = 12). All rats were tested in the open field test and sucrose intake test before and after CUS.