title: Fetal domoic acid exposure affects lateral amygdala neurons, diminishes social investigation and alters sensory-motor gating.
abstract: Domoic acid (DA) is an algal neurotoxin that accumulates in marine fish and shellfish. DA can move across the placenta and concentrate in amniotic fluid, which can be swallowed during late gestation. DA also transfers to infants via milk. Preclinical studies to determine effects of developmental DA expose have primarily involved DA exposure during the postnatal period and little is known about late CNS effects following prenatal DA. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that prenatal exposure of FVB mice to low levels of DA would result in diminished social interaction and sensory motor gating associated with alterations in parvalbumin immunoreactivity in relevant brain regions undergoing development during and following DA exposure. In addition to parvalbumin, we stained with NeuN for a neuronal specific nuclear protein to determine if neuronal loss followed prenatal DA exposure. A single moderate dose of DA administered during gestation produces diminishes social investigation and alters sensorimotor gating, behavioral effects more pronounced in males than females. These behavioral changes were associated with discrete alterations in the parvalbumin-positive subtype of GABAergic neurons in the dentate gyrus and lateral amygdala.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Zuloaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States. Electronic address: lahvisg@ohsu.edu.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Lahvis
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States; Departments of Neurology and Radiation Medicine, Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, United States. Electronic address: raberj@ohsu.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raber
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000367:Age Factors; D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000378:metabolism; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D065808:Prepulse Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000187:drug effects*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D009498:Neurotoxins; D010320:Parvalbumins; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase; C012301:domoic acid; D007608:Kainic Acid
keywords: Parvalbumin; Prepulse inhibition; Social investigation