LONG-LASTING EFFECTS OF PRENATAL AND CHRONIC STRESS: COULD ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT IMPROVE ALTERATIONS INDUCED BY A TWO-HIT STRESS MODEL?

ACOSTA, GABRIELA BEATRIZ; MARIANO ENRIQUE RAMBORGER

Congreso; 53 Reunion Conjunta SAIC, SAI, AAFE, Nanomed; 2021

SAIC, SAI, AAFE, Nanomed

There is considerable evidence that stress in the early stages of development can cause disturbances that result in dysfunctions and/or vulnerability to psychiatric or physiological illnesses in adulthood. Prenatal stress (PS) has been associated with long-term behavioral alterations in the offspring, while chronic stress (CS) has been shown to have deleterious effects in adulthood. This work aims to determine, in a single experimental model, the consequences of pre and postnatal stress on behavior and whether the enriched environment (EE) could reverse the effects induced by exposure to PS and CS in adulthood.Pregnant female BALB / C mice subjected to movement restriction for 2 hours a day, from day 14 of pregnancy to delivery, were used as a model of PS. As a CS model, 2-month-old female mice born to mothers were subjected to movement restriction 2 hours a day for 3 weeks. Animals were exposed to EE from postnatal day (PD) 21 to PD 90. Our results showed that the PS, CS, PS + CS groups present modifications in contextual memory and anxiety-related behaviors that depend on gender. Exposure to an EE during adolescence and adulthood reversed the observed changes. However, the combination of PS + CS presents a synergistic effect which prevents EE from reversing the changes. It would be necessary to study the existence of new treatments for cases in which both types of stress are present