title: Transient birth hypoxia increases behavioral responses to repeated stress in the adult rat.
abstract: The aim of this study was to test if two birth complications, namely, transient global hypoxia during Caesarean section (C-section) birth or C-section birth per se, produce long-term changes in behavioral responses to repeated stress. Adult rats, that had been born vaginally, by C-section or by C-section with 10 min of global anoxia, were stressed for 8 days (15 min tail pinch daily) followed by challenge with the same stressor 2 weeks later. The main finding is that adult rats born by C-section + 10 min of anoxia showed enhanced locomotor activity on days 5 and 6 of the repeated stress period and at stress challenge 2 weeks later, compared to animals born vaginally or by C-section. It is concluded that transient global birth hypoxia can render the adult rat behaviorally hyper-responsive to repeated stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Qué, Canada.
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: El-Khodor
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boksa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000503:physiopathology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine