Maze exploration in juvenile rats treated with corticosteroids during development.
The possibility of permanent damage to brain function after developmental corticosteroid treatment has been raised in connection with therapeutic use of potent synthetic corticosteroids during the period of brain development in the human fetus and infant. In the present study, brain function was evaluated in rats treated during brain development with triamcinolone acetonide (TAC). A subtoxic dose (0.9 mg/kg), which did not retard growth, was used. TAC treatment at two periods of post-embryonic brain development (day 0 and day 10 postnatal) led to deviations from normal exploration strategies in a radial maze. Treatment on day 16 gestation was effective only in males. Neonatal TAC-treatment also affected spontaneous alternation in a T-maze. Measures which reflected arousal-activity levels during behavioral tests, such as time to initiate exploration and time to complete exploration, were not affected by treatment. These results suggest that the development of complex brain function in rats can be altered by subtoxic corticosteroid treatment in the perinatal period.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors; D014221:Triamcinolone / Q000494:pharmacology
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D014221:Triamcinolone