Maternal care evaluation in the vpa rat model of autism.

UCCELLI NA; CODAGNONE M; PODESTÁ MF; REINÉS A

Río de Janeiro

Congreso; 9th World Congress International Brain Research Organization; 2015

International Brain Research Organization

Administration of valproic acid (VPA) during gestation is a well ­accepted animal model of autism. Delayed growth and maturation as well as several behavioral deficits similar to those seen in autistic patients are established early after birth. However, the dam­pups interaction during that period remains largely unexplored in this model. The aim of this work was to characterize the behaviour of VPA dams at early postnatal days (PND). For this purpose, we evaluated the maternal care in undisturbed condition or after external perturbation. Undisturbed maternal care was studied at PND 5­6. VPA dams behaved similar to control dams when activities directed toward pups (nursing posture, contact, licking, carrying and grouping) were evaluated. Behaviors either not directed toward pups (self­grooming and eating/drinking) or directed to the environment were also similar in control and VPA dams. After pup ungrouping (PND 3-­4), despite the number of events directed towards pups were similar in both groups, the activity pattern seen in VPA dams clearly indicates a poor engagement with their pups. Moreover, in the pup retrieval test, VPA dams either failed to succeed in the grouping task during the 15 min trial or showed a delayed performance. Our results strongly indicate that maternal care is preserved in VPA dams during undisturbed conditions but compromised after an external perturbation. The altered maternal behaviour could be related to a mother­pup communication deficit, a worth exploring VPA phenotype related impairment. * equally contributors.