The influence of DHEA pretreatment on prepulse inhibition and the HPA-axis stress response in rat offspring exposed prenatally to polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic-acid (PIC).
Prenatal exposure to maternal infection may be associated with the development of neurodevelopmental disorders as well as increased susceptibility to the development of schizophrenia. Prenatal administration of polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidilic-acid, mimicking RNA virus exposure, has been shown to induce schizophrenia-like behavioral, neurochemical and neuorophysiological abnormalities in rodent offspring. In the present study PIC prenatal administration at gestation day 15 was associated with alterations in the acoustic-startle-response/prepulse-inhibition [ASR/PPI] and the HPA-axis stress response in rat offspring on day 90. We show that pretreatment with dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) reverses PIC-related ASR/PPI disruption in female rats and normalizes HPA-axis stress response in a united group of male and female rats. Further research in both animal and human studies is recommended in order to confirm these preliminary findings and their application to the understanding and management of schizophrenia and related conditions.
Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, Felsenstein Medical Research Center (FMRC), The Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel. rmayan@post.tau.ac.il
Rachel
R
Maayan
Edward
E
Ram
Doron
D
Biton
Hagit
H
Cohen
Ehud
E
Baharav
Rael D
RD
Strous
Abraham
A
Weizman
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011119:Polynucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012327:RNA Virus Infections / Q000150:complications; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000821:virology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013312:Stress, Physiological
D011119:Polynucleotides; C049667:poly(rI).poly(dC); D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D003345:Corticosterone