Effects of Maternal Stress during Different Periods of Pregnancy on the Early Neurobehavioral Response of Rats

KVARIK, T; MAMMEL, B; REGLODI, D; ANTONELLI, MC; FARKAS, J; TAMAS, A; ERTL, T; ATLASZ, T; BODZAI, G; KISS, P; GYARMATI, J

JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE

Insight Medical Publishing

Año: 2016 vol. 7 p. 1 - 8

2171-6625

Background: Several studies focus on the effects of prenatalstress in adulthood. Relatively little is known about the earlyneurodevelopmental consequences of such experiences and their predictive value.Thus we examined the early neurobehavioral responses of offspring whose motherswere exposed to restraint stress. Methods and Results: Pregnant rats were exposed to 60 minutes restraintstress twice a day for seven days in different periods of pregnancy (early/midand late phase). After birth, offspring were examined for the maturation ofneural signs and reflexes daily for 3 weeks. Mid-pregnancy stress resulted in asubtle faster development in the appearance of eyelid and auditory startlereflexes, and in the disappearance of crossed extensor reflex. Pups exposed tostress in the last week of intrauterine life displayed a delay in air rightingand showed a slight enhancement in the appearance of auditory startle. Conclusion: However, based on our present findings, thedeleterious consequences of prenatal stress are not apparent during the earlydevelopmental stages, at least not detectable with the battery of test mostwidely used to examine neurobehavioral development. These findings draw theattention of the need of careful awareness in later ages in spite of the normalneurobehavioral development of newborns exposed to prenatal stress.