title: Limited Nesting Stress Alters Maternal Behavior and In Vivo Intestinal Permeability in Male Wistar Pup Rats.
abstract: A few studies indicate that limited nesting stress (LNS) alters maternal behavior and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis of dams and offspring in male Sprague Dawley rats. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of LNS on maternal behavior in Wistar rats, and on the HPA axis, glycemia and in vivo intestinal permeability of male and female offspring. Intestinal permeability is known to be elevated during the first week postnatally and influenced by glucocorticoids. Dams and neonatal litters were subjected to LNS or normal nesting conditions (control) from days 2 to 10 postnatally. At day 10, blood was collected from pups for determination of glucose and plasma corticosterone by enzyme immunoassay and in vivo intestinal permeability by oral gavage of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran 4kDa. Dams exposed to LNS compared to control showed an increase in the percentage of time spent building a nest (118%), self-grooming (69%), and putting the pups back to the nest (167%). LNS male and female pups exhibited a reduction of body weight by 5% and 4%, adrenal weights/100g body weight by 17% and 18%, corticosterone plasma levels by 64% and 62% and blood glucose by 11% and 12% respectively compared to same sex control pups. In male LNS pups, intestinal permeability was increased by 2.7-fold while no change was observed in females compared to same sex control. There was no sex difference in any of the parameters in control pups except the body weight. These data indicate that Wistar dams subjected to LNS during the first postnatal week have an altered repertoire of maternal behaviors which affects the development of the HPA axis in both sexes and intestinal barrier function in male offspring.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology of Stress, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Division, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, 90073, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nabila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moussaoui
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology of Stress, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Division, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, 90073, United States of America.
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larauche
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology of Stress, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Division, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, 90073, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biraud
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy/Neurobiology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697-4475, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Molet
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology of Stress, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Division, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, 90073, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mulugeta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Million
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology of Stress, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Division, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, 90073, United States of America.
authors.forename: Emeran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobiology of Stress, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Division, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California, 90073, United States of America.
authors.forename: Yvette
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taché
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D010539:Permeability; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003345:Corticosterone