Effects of juvenile variable stress on alcohol consumption and anxiety behaviors in female rats exposed to alcohol during a period equivalent to the third trimester of human gestation

MORENO PALOMA; MARENGO LEONARDO; AGUSTÍN SALGUERO; FABIO M.C.; PAUTASSI RM

Congreso; 19a Reunión Nacional y 8vo Encuentro Internacional de la Asociación Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento; 2023

Asociación Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento

EFFECTS OF JUVENILE VARIABLE STRESS ON ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND ANXIETY BEHAVIORS IN FEMALE RATS EXPOSED TO ALCOHOL DURING A PERIOD EQUIVALENT TO THE THIRD TRIMESTER OF HUMAN GESTATIONMoreno, Paloma*a; Marengo, Leonardo a; Salguero, Agustín a; Fabio, Carolina a,b & Pautassi, Ricardo a,baInstituto de Investigación Médica M. y M. Ferreyra (INIMEC – CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Córdoba, 5000, Argentina. bFacultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina*Paloma Moreno; Email: paloma.moreno@mi.unc.edu.arKey words: third trimester of gestation, alcohol consumption, variable juvenile stress, anxiety, female rats. Introduction. The juvenile period, which in the rat extends between weaning and adolescence (equivalent to late human childhood), is a time of high sensitivity to stress. Early stress may increase vulnerability to psychopathology, including alcohol use disorders, yet very little is known about how juvenile variable stress (JVS) interacts with other vulnerability, such as prenatal ethanol exposure. The brain of the rat at postnatal days -PDs- 4–9 is characterized by axonal growth and dendritic arborization, and mimics the development of the human brain during the 3er trimester. It is still unknown how JVS interacts, in the rat, with ethanol exposure during the period equivalent to the to the third trimester of human gestation. Objectives: To analyze the effects of JVS on body weight, voluntary alcohol consumption and anxiety. in female rats exposed to alcohol on PDs 4-9. Methods: At PDs 4-9, 48 female Wistar rats received ethanol (5.00 g/kg) or sham intubations. These rats were exposed to JVS (restraint, elevated platform and forced swimming) between PDs 26-28. During adolescence, anxiety and ethanol intake were evaluated, via the light-dark box test and a single two-bottle voluntary ethanol intake test, respectively. Results: Control rats made, in the LDB test, significantly more stretching behaviors towards the white vs. the black side, whereas ethanol-exposed rats made similar stretching towards both compartments. These behaviors were not affected by JVS nor there was significant interaction between stress and ethanol exposure. Likewise, ethanol intake was similar across conditions. Ethanol exposure at PDs4-9 induced a significant body weight reduction, yet this effect disappeared at adolescence and was not affected by stress exposure. Discussion: The present study suggests that female rats exposed to alcohol during a period equivalent to the third trimester of human gestation may exhibit some alterations in risk-taking behaviors. The ethanol treatment induced developmental alterations in terms of body weight but did not alter voluntary ethanol drinking. JVS did not interact with these effects of ethanol exposure.