title: Stereological study of the effects of maternal diabetes on cerebellar cortex development in rat.
abstract: Diabetes during pregnancy is associated with the deficits in balance and motor coordination and altered social behaviors in offspring. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of maternal diabetes and insulin treatment on the cerebellar volume and morphogenesis of the cerebellar cortex of rat neonates during the first two postnatal weeks. Sprague Dawley female rats were maintained diabetic from a week before pregnancy through parturition. At the end of pregnancy, the male offspring euthanized on postnatal days (P) 0, 7, and 14. Cavalieri's principle and fractionator methods were used to estimate the cerebellar volume, the thickness and the number of cells in the different layers of the cerebellar cortex. In spite of P0, there was a significant reduction in the cerebellar volume and the thickness of the external granule, molecular, and internal granule layers between the diabetic and the control animals. In diabetic group, the granular and purkinje cell densities were increased at P0. Moreover, the number of granular and purkinje cells in the cerebellum of diabetic neonates was reduced in comparison with the control group at P7 and P14. There were no significant differences in either the volume and thickness or the number of cells in the different layers of the cerebellar cortex between the insulin-treated diabetic group and controls. Our data indicate that diabetes in pregnancy disrupts the morphogenesis of cerebellar cortex. This dysmorphogenesis may be part of the cascade of events through which diabetes during pregnancy affects motor coordination and social behaviors in offspring.
authors: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.|Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
authors: Javad
authors: J
authors: Hami
authors: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
authors: Saeed
authors: S
authors: Vafaei-Nezhad
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
authors: Kazem
authors: K
authors: Ghaemi
authors: Department of Anatomy and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors: Akram
authors: A
authors: Sadeghi
authors: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
authors: Ghasem
authors: G
authors: Ivar
authors: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
authors: Fatemeh
authors: F
authors: Shojae
authors: Department of Public Health, Research Centre of Experimental Medicine, Deputy of Research and Technology, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran. mehranhosseiny@yahoo.co.in.
authors: Mehran
authors: M
authors: Hosseini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology*; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose
keywords: Cerebellar cortex; Granular cell; Maternal diabetes; Purkinje cell; Rat