title: Age- and gender-dependent impairments of neurobehaviors in mice whose mothers were exposed to lipopolysaccharide during pregnancy.
abstract: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intrauterine infection has been associated with neurodevelopmental injury in rodents. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the dynamic changes of neurobehaviors in mice whose mothers were exposed to LPS during pregnancy. The pregnant mice were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with LPS (8 microg/kg) daily from gestational day (gd) 8 to gd 15. A battery of neurobehavioral tasks was performed in mice at postnatal day (PND) 70, 200, 400 and 600. Results showed that the spatial learning and memory ability, determined by radial six-arm water maze (RAWM), were obviously impaired in two hundred-day-old female mice and four hundred-day-old male mice whose mothers were exposed to LPS during pregnancy. Open field test showed that the number of squares crossed and peripheral time, a marker of anxiety and exploration activity, were markedly increased in two hundred-day-old female mice following prenatal LPS exposure. In addition, prenatal LPS exposure significantly shortened the latency to the first grid crossing in six hundred-day-old female offspring. Moreover, sensorimotor impairment in the beam walking was observed in two hundred-day-old female mice whose mothers were exposed to LPS during pregnancy. Species-typical behavior examination showed that prenatal LPS exposure markedly increased weight burrowed in seventy-day-old male offspring and six hundred-day-old female offspring. Correspondingly, prenatal LPS exposure significantly reduced weight hoarded in two hundred-day-old female offspring. Taken together, these results suggest that prenatal LPS exposure induces neurobehavioral impairments at adulthood in an age- and gender-dependent manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiu-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.forename: Xian-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gui-Hai
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: De-Xiang
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced; D051379:Mice; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides