Impact of maternal morphine and saline injections on behavioral responses to a cold water stressor in adult male and female progeny.
The purpose of the present study was to test the effects of maternal morphine and saline injections on chronic cold water stress responses in three groups of adult male and female rats: prenatally morphine-exposed adult progeny, prenatally saline-exposed adult progeny, and control groups. All male rats were gonadally intact, and female rats were ovariectomized (OVX) in adulthood, and half of them were injected with estradiol benzoate (EB). All animals were exposed to a cold water stressor daily for 2 weeks and tested before (baseline) and after (stress effects) the chronic cold water stressor in a swim test and an open field test. In the swim test, both adult males and OVX, EB-treated adult females born to mothers injected with morphine or saline displayed more floating behavior during the swim test than their controls, both before and after the cold water stressor. Male rats exposed to morphine or saline prenatally also spent more time struggling during the swim tests than controls, and this was further increased after the cold water stressor. In the open field test, males and OVX, EB-treated females born to morphine- or saline-injected mothers were less active and displayed fewer rearings than controls. No differences were observed in OVX females as a result of prenatal injections. Thus, the present study demonstrates that maternal injections, regardless of injection content, induce long-lasting effects on stress responsiveness in adult progeny.
Slamberová
Romana
R
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Schindler
Cheryl J
CJ
Vathy
Ilona
I
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004958:Estradiol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009294:Narcotics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time; D012737:Sex Factors; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D013550:Swimming
D009294:Narcotics; C074283:estradiol 3-benzoate; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D004958:Estradiol; D009020:Morphine