title: Perinatal undernutrition affects brain modulatory capacity of beta-adrenergic receptors in adult rats.
abstract: Rats submitted to a protein deprivation schedule from the perinatal period until 50 d of age (dams and/or rats fed an 8% casein diet) and then fed a commercial nonpurified diet for at least 90 d were assayed to evaluate the up- and down-regulation of beta-adrenergic receptors in brain structures following prolonged (7 d) treatment with propranolol or desipramine, drugs that induce changes in receptor density. Propranolol produced up-regulation (increased Bmax) in the frontal cortex of both control and deprived animals, whereas desipramine treatment did not induce down-regulation in the frontal cortex or hippocampus of experimental rats, as it did in control rats. The lack of the down-regulation effect in response to desipramine treatment in deprived rats may be an alteration of adaptive mechanisms, which may contribute to the behavioral abnormalities attributed to early undernutrition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Cuadra
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Orsingher
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002364:Caseins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D003891:Desipramine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004082:Dihydroalprenolol / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011433:Propranolol / Q000494:pharmacology; D011488:Protein Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002364:Caseins; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta; D004082:Dihydroalprenolol; D011433:Propranolol; D003891:Desipramine