title: Parental life events cause behavioral difference among offspring: Adult pre-gestational restraint stress reduces anxiety across generations.
abstract: While effects of gestational, neonatal or adolescent stress on psychological alterations in progeny have been extensively studied, much less is known regarding the effects of adult pre-gestational life events on offspring behavior. Although full siblings often display behavioral differences, whether the different parental life events prior to different pregnancies contribute to these behavioral differences among siblings is worth studying. In this study, male and female adult mice were restrained for 60 days before mating with unstressed or stressed partners. F1 offspring were examined for anxiety or mated to generate F2. Both F1 females and males from restrained mothers and/or fathers showed significantly reduced anxiety and serum cortisol and increased mRNA levels of glucocorticoid receptor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor compared to control offspring from unstressed parents. Similar behavioral and molecular changes were also observed in F2 females and males. Although restraint of adolescent mice reduced anxiety in F1 of both sexes, social instability of them increased anxiety predominantly in F1 females. Thus, adult pre-gestational restraint reduced offspring's anxiety across generations; different stressors on parents may cause different phenotypes in offspring; individual behaviors can depend on adult life experiences of parents.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qiao-Qiao
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jun-Zuo
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shu-Fen
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yi-Long
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong-Jie
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Zhong
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chuan-Yong
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an City 271018, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jing-He
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D010641:Phenotype; D011247:Pregnancy; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; C579455:BDNF protein, human; D006854:Hydrocortisone