Glucocorticoid receptors expression in Limbic areas related to anxiety. Effects of Early maternal separation and chronic variable stress during adulthood

COTELLA, EVELIN M.; DURANDO, PATRICIA E.; SUÁREZ, MARTA M.

Filadelfia

Workshop; Neurobiology of Stress Workshop 2012; 2012

University of Pennsylvania, Children?s Hospital of Philadelphia

During early life, environment promotes different pathways of expression of molecules and different neurocircuits in the brain which will determine diverging responses to stress in adulthood. This involves two types of receptors for corticosteroid: mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors. They mediate the steroid control of HPA activity and behavior. The aim of this work was evaluate changes after chronic variable stress (CVS) in rats that were previously early maternally separated (MS). We measured the immunoreactivity (IR) of GR and MR in Amygdala and Septum, areas related to the control of fear and anxiety. We also assessed anxiety-like behavior. During the CVS protocol in adulthood, animals were treated with Amitriptyline (AMI) (10 mg/Kg i.p.) since it is known that chronic treatment with tricyclic antidepressants can modulate stress system through different actions at many levels of the brain. Concerning GR, CVS evoked a slight rise in GR-IR in non-MS rats which was effectively prevented by AMI in the Medial Amigdaloid Nucleus (MeAm) (p