title: Environmental prenatal stress eliminates brain and maternal behavioral sex differences and alters hormone levels in female rats.
abstract: Environmental prenatal stress (EPS) has effects on fetuses that are long-lasting, altering their hormone levels, brain morphology and behavior when they reach maturity. In previous research, we demonstrated that EPS affects the expression of induced maternal behavior (MB), the neuroendocrine system, and morphology of the sexually dimorphic accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) involved in reproductive behavior patterns. The bed nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract (BAOT) is another vomeronasal (VN) structure that plays an inhibitory role in rats in the expression of induced maternal behavior in female and male virgins. In the present study, we have ascertained whether the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neuromorphological alterations of the AOB found after EPS also appear in the BAOT. After applying EPS to pregnant rats during the late gestational period, in their female offspring at maturity we tested induced maternal behavior, BAOT morphology and plasma levels of testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (Cpd B). EPS: a) affected the induction of MB, showed a male-like pattern of care for pups, b) elevated plasma levels of Cpd B and reduced E2 in comparison with the controls, and c) significantly increased the number of BAOT neurons compared to the control females and comparable to the control male group. These findings provide further evidence that stress applied to pregnant rats produces long-lasting behavioral, endocrine and neuroanatomical alterations in the female offspring that are evident when they become mature.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mcrdelcerro@psi.uned.es.
authors.forename: M C R
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Del Cerro
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Avda. de Madrid s/n°, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Joaquín Rodrigo, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Área 11 AP, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Segovia
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia C/ Juan del Rosal 10, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Laso
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000097:blood; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: ACTH; Bed nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract; Brain development; Corticosterone; Environmental prenatal stress; Estradiol; Maternal behavior; Progesterone; Rats; Testosterone