title: Interactive effects of prenatal exposure to restraint stress and alcohol on pentylenetetrazol-induced seizure behaviors in rat offspring.
abstract: Prenatal exposure to stress or alcohol increases vulnerability of brain regions involved in neurobehavioral development and programs susceptibility to seizure. To examine how prenatal alcohol interferes with stress-sensitive seizures, corticosterone (COS) blood levels and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizure behaviors were investigated in rat pups, prenatally exposed to stress, alcohol, or both. Pregnant rats were exposed to stress and saline/alcohol on 17, 18, and 19 days of pregnancy and divided into four groups of control-saline (CS), control-alcohol (CA), restraint stress-saline (RS), and restraint stress-alcohol (RA). In CS/CA groups, rats received saline/alcohol (20%, 2 g/kg, intraperitoneally [i.p.]). In RS/RA groups, rats were exposed to restraint stress by being held immobile in a Plexiglas®tube (twice/day, 1 h/session), and received saline/alcohol, simultaneously. After parturition, on postnatal days 6 and 15 (P6 & P15), blood samples were collected from the pups to determine COS level. On P15 and P25, PTZ (45 mg/kg) was injected into the rest of the pups and seizure behaviors were then recorded. COS levels increased in pups of the RS group but not in pups of the RA group. Both focal and tonic-clonic seizures were prevalent and severe in pups of the RS group, whereas only focal seizures were prominent in pups of the CA group. However, pups prenatally exposed to co-administration of alcohol and stress, unexpectedly, did not show additive epileptic effects. The failure of pups prenatally exposed to alcohol to show progressive or facilitatory epileptic responses to stressors, indicates decreased plasticity and adaptability, which may negatively affect HPA-axis performance or hippocampal structure/function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran; Physiology Research Center, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Paria
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran; Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran. Electronic address: shiva_muk@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shiva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roshan-Milani
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran; Neurophysiology Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saboory
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Loghman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soltanineghad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012640:Seizures / Q000097:blood* / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D003345:Corticosterone; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole
keywords: Alcohol; Corticosterone; PTZ; Restraint stress; Tonic-clonic seizure