Maternal care, hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to stress.
Variations in maternal care affect the development of individual differences in neuroendocrine responses to stress in rats. As adults, the offspring of mothers that exhibited more licking and grooming of pups during the first 10 days of life showed reduced plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone responses to acute stress, increased hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor messenger RNA expression, enhanced glucocorticoid feedback sensitivity, and decreased levels of hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone messenger RNA. Each measure was significantly correlated with the frequency of maternal licking and grooming (all r's > -0.6). These findings suggest that maternal behavior serves to "program" hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to stress in the offspring.
Liu
D
D
Developmental Neuroendocrinology Laboratory, Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada H4H 1R3.
Diorio
J
J
Tannenbaum
B
B
Caldji
C
C
Francis
D
D
Freedman
A
A
Sharma
S
S
Pearson
D
D
Plotsky
P M
PM
Meaney
M J
MJ
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006120:Grooming; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology*; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone