Anxious behaviour of adult CD1 mice perinatally exposed to low doses of ethanol correlated with morphological changes in amygdala and cingulate cortex

NERINA VILLALBA; CATALINA MADARNAS; ALICIA BRUSCO

Córdoba Capital

Congreso; IX INTERNATIONAL MEETING of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism; 2019

LASBRA

Prenatal ethanol (ETOH) exposition is associated with high rates of psychopathologies. Different animal models of prenatal or perinatal ethanol exposition have reported morphofunctional alterations of the central nervous system that could explain behaviour disorders along life time. But, the results are controversial, some reports for example found pups hyperactivity and other not. On the other hand, mammalian emotion is related with the corticolimbic system , in particular prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and cingulate cortex, but the last one was not well studied. In view of these contrasting and incomplete results, the aim of this work was to analyze adult behaviour in CD1 mice perinatally exposed to low doses of EtOH (PEE) during gestation and lactation, and analyse the morphology of the cingulate cortex and amygdala with the propose to find some correlations between structure/function/behaviour. Primiparous CD1 female mice were exposed to EtOH 6%v/v intake for four weeks previous mating. Pregnant mice drank EtOH 6%v/v during pregnancy and lactation, yielded at the end on lactation a BEC (blood EtOH concentration) of 73.29±8.69 mg/dl. At 21 days old PEE pups, BEC was 101.56±5.21mg/dl. At the end of lactation, male pups were fed with food and water ad libitum until 70 days old in which the behavioural and morphological studies were performed. We analyse the behaviour through three tests: Open field (OF), light-dark box (LDB) and elevated plus maze (EPM), The locomotor activity (both vertical and horizontal), latency , time spent in periphery and in central square were analyzed in OF. Time in dark and in light area, as well as the number of entries in each one are analyzed in LDB. Time spent in open arms and in closed arms were analysez in EPM.After behavioral studies, mice were fixed and brain sections were studied by immunofluorescence for NeuN, S100b, GFAP, NF200, Synaptophysin and 5HTT. In all tests PEE mice showed an anxiogenic behaviour and morphological changes in the cingulate cortex and amygdala, areas of the brain involved in emotional mechanisms.