IBCN   20355
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA CELULAR Y NEUROCIENCIA "PROFESOR EDUARDO DE ROBERTIS"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The dopaminergic system and the neuroendocrine response in a rat model of prenatal stress
Autor/es:
PALLARÉS MARÍA EUGENIA; ADROVER EZEQUIELA; IMSEN MERCEDES; MONTELEONE MELISA CAROLINA; BROCCO MARCELA ADRIANA; BAIER CARLOS JAVIER; ANTONELLI MARTA CRISTINA
Lugar:
Regensburg
Reunión:
Congreso; Regensburg Parental Brain 2013; 2013
Resumen:
We have previously demonstrated that prenatal stress (PS) exerts an impairment of midbrain dopaminergic system (DA) metabolism especially after puberty, suggesting a particular sensitivity of DA system to variations in gonadal hormones peaks. Additionally we demonstrated that PS alters the reproductive hormone profile and testis development of the rat male offspring. We employed a commonly use paradigm of prenatal stress in rats which consisted on restraining the dams three times per day from the 14th day of pregnancy until birth. Evaluation of D2 dopamine (D2R) and sexual hormones receptor levels on prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus (HPC) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) were performed on prepubertal and adult male offspring. Additionally, evaluation of dendritic arborization in PFC and HPC were measured by quantifying the immunoexpresion of MAP2. Our results show that PS affected estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) expression: mRNA Er1s levels and ERalpha protein expression were decreased on PFC and HPC of brain adult offspring. Moreover, PS reduced D2R protein levels in HPC of prepubertal rats, whereas its levels were increased in VTA. Morphological studies revealed that both prepubertal and adult PS males presented a decrease in the number of MAP2 immunoreactive neurons in both areas suggesting that PS reduces  dendritic arborizations. Our findings suggest that PS exerts long-term effects both in the HPT axis and DA system by altering the normal conectivity between areas, and by modulating the expression of D2R and ERalpha in an age-related pattern. Since the developing forebrain DA system was shown to be influenced by androgen exposure, and PS was shown to disrupt perinatal testosterone surges, our results suggest that prenatal insults might be affecting the organizational role of androgens and differentially modulate their activational role on brain development.