IQUIFIB   02644
INSTITUTO DE QUIMICA Y FISICOQUIMICA BIOLOGICAS "PROF. ALEJANDRO C. PALADINI"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Prenatal Restraint Stress: an in Vivo Microdialalysis Study on Catecholamine Release in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex
Autor/es:
EZIO CARBONI, VIRGINIA G. BARROS, MARCELLO IBBA, ALESSANDRA SILVAGNI, CRISTINA MURA, MARTA C. ANTONELLI
Revista:
NEUROSCIENCE
Editorial:
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Referencias:
Año: 2010
ISSN:
0306-4522
Resumen:
There is substantial evidence that prenatal exposure to adverse environmental conditions might lead to the psychiatric disorders that can appear in adolescence or in adulthood;  vulnerability to drug addiction may be increased as well. It is currently accepted that the alteration of catecholamine  transmission in the prefrontal cortex does play a prominent role in the etiology of psychiatric disorders. We assessed basal and stimulated dopamine and noradrenaline extracellular concentration in the medial prefrontal cortex by means of microdialysis in awake male adolescent and young adult offspring of rats exposed to restrain stress in the last week of pregnancy; catecholamine stimulation was obtained by amphetamine or nicotine. We observed that prenatal stress did not change dopamine but decreased noradrenaline basal output in both adolescents and adults; moreover it decreased amphetamine stimulated dopamine output and increased amphetamine stimulated noradrenaline output whereas decreased nicotine stimulated noradrenaline (but not dopamine output) in adults, though not in adolescents. These data show that prenatal stress modifies prefrontal cortex catecholamine transmission in a complex and age dependent manner. Our results support the view that prenatal stress may be a contributing factor for the development of psychiatric disorders and its effect may augment  drug addiction vulnerability.