Neonatal nutritional rehabilitation of morphological features in facial motoneurons altered by prenatally food deprivation in the rat.
Undernutrition alters facial motoneurons development. Here, we evaluated the plastic characteristics of facial motoneurons in response to neonatal rehabilitation. Prenatally undernourished rat pups derived from pregnant rats fed with 50% of the diet from gestational days G6 to G12, and with 60% of food from G13 to G21 and rehabilitated after birth by a pair of control lactating foster dams. Morphological features of 640 Golgi-Cox impregnated motoneurons from 12, 20 and 30 days old pups were analyzed. Neonatal food rehabilitation increased the number and extension of the dendritic branches (main neuronal reception area) without altering significantly soma measurements (main neuronal firing area), suggesting that food and sensory maternal disponibility after birth ameliorates the damage due to prenatal deprivation. Findings showed that neonatal rehabilitation in addition to intense maternal polysensorial stimuli from the foster mothers partially diminished the morphological alterations associated to prenatal undernutrition, and provide evidence of plastic properties of facial motoneurons to the influence of environmental cues.
Pérez-Torrero
Esther
E
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México, DF. torrero@biomedicas.unam.mx
Torrero
Carmen
C
Salas
Manuel
M
D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003712:Dendrites / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004032:Diet; D005145:Face / Q000294:innervation*; D005260:Female; D005508:Food Deprivation; D005865:Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013391:Sucking Behavior