title: Effects of neonatal stress on markers of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus: implications for spatial memory.
abstract: Early stressful adverse situations may increase the vulnerability to cognitive deficits and psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Maternal separation (MS) has been used as an animal model to study changes in neurochemistry and behavior associated with exposure to early-life stress. This study investigated the effects of neonatal stress (MS) on the expression of synaptic plasticity markers in the hippocampus and a purported relationship to cognitive processes. Spatial learning (Morris water maze) significantly increased the expression of total levels of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), as well as its three major isoforms (NCAM-120, -140, and -180) both in the control and MS groups. Interestingly, these increases in NCAM expression after learning were lower in MS animals when compared with control rats. MS induced a significant decrease in total levels of NCAM, and specifically, in the NCAM-140 isoform expression. In the hippocampus of MS rats there was a significant decrease in brain-derived neurotrophic factor and synaptophysin mRNA densities. Cell proliferation, measured as BrdU-positive cells, was also decreased in the dentate gyrus of MS rats. Altogether these results suggest that MS can alter normal brain development, providing a potential mechanism by which early environmental stressors may influence vulnerability to show cognitive impairments later in life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: Bárbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aisa
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elizalde
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tordera
authors.forename: Berta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lasheras
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Del Río
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ramírez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D016708:Synaptophysin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; C507071:NCAM140, rat; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016708:Synaptophysin