Post-weaning environmental enrichment improves BDNF response of adult male rats.
The environment could have long lasting effects on the individual phenotype through developmental plasticity. Early environmental enrichment exerts profound biological effects, most of which are quite beneficial ones. To explore the enduring effects of rearing condition quality on BDNF(1) responses, we reared male Wistar rats from weaning to young-adulthood in three different environmental conditions: 1. Enriched 2. Standard, and 3. Isolated. Then, at the age of 16 weeks, 10 rats from each group were randomly chosen and allocated to six common mix cages. They were kept together for 14 weeks. At the end of the experiment, each rat received ten inescapable foot-shocks. Twelve hours later, the BDNF contents of the amygdala and CA1 sub-region of the dorsal hippocampus were measured. The serum BDNF levels, hematocrit values as well as brain and testis weights were also measured. Results showed that the environmental enrichment led to stronger dorsal hippocampal BDNF response and higher serum BDNF levels, while rats from standard laboratory condition showed higher amygdala BDNF response. Also, enriched animals showed higher brain weight compared to isolation reared rats as well as higher testis weight and hematocrit value compared to animals reared in standard laboratory condition. Rats showed less body weights in isolated condition. In conclusion, the BDNF profile of enriched animals might represent the neurobiological correlate of resilience phenotype under a stressful situation.
Neuroscience Research Center (NSRC), Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: b.mosaferi82@gmail.com.
Belal
B
Mosaferi
Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: shirinb46@yahoo.com.
Shirin
S
Babri
Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: mohaddesg@tbzmed.ac.ir.
Gisou
G
Mohaddes
Department of Physiology, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: Khamnei_s@yahoo.com.
Saeed
S
Khamnei
Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Electronic address: mehran1968@yahoo.com.
Mehran
M
Mesgari
D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004597:Electroshock / Q000009:adverse effects; D004777:Environment; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D006400:Hematocrit; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
Amygdala; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Developmental plasticity; Environmental enrichment; Hippocampus