title: Long-term effects of maternal deprivation on the neuronal soma area in the rat neocortex.
abstract: Early separation of rat pups from their mothers (separatio a matrem) is considered and accepted as an animal model of perinatal stress. Adult rats, separated early postnatally from their mothers, are developing long-lasting changes in the brain and neuroendocrine system, corresponding to the findings observed in schizophrenia and affective disorders. With the aim to investigate the morphological changes in this animal model we exposed 9-day-old (P9) Wistar rats to a 24 h maternal deprivation (MD). At young adult age rats were sacrificed for morphometric analysis and their brains were compared with the control group bred under the same conditions, but without MD. Rats exposed to MD had a 28% smaller cell soma area in the prefrontal cortex (PFCX), 30% in retrosplenial cortex (RSCX), and 15% in motor cortex (MCX) compared to the controls. No difference was observed in the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein in the neocortex of MD rats compared to the control group. The results of this study demonstrate that stress in early life has a long-term effect on neuronal soma size in cingulate and retrosplenial cortex and is potentially interesting as these structures play an important role in cognition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy "Niko Miljanic", Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, dr Subotića 4, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aksić
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical and Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Pasterova 2, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Nevena V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Radonjić
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy "Niko Miljanic", Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, dr Subotića 4, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Dubravka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aleksić
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical and Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Pasterova 2, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jevtić
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Belgrade, Blagoja Parovića 156, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Branka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marković
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical and Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Pasterova 2, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Nataša
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petronijević
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy "Niko Miljanic", Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, dr Subotića 4, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Vidosava
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Radonjić
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy "Niko Miljanic", Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, dr Subotića 4, Belgrade 11000, Serbia.
authors.forename: Branislav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Filipović
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019579:Neocortex / Q000473:pathology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C546339:Rbfox3 protein, rat