INVESTIGADORES
DUHALDE VEGA Maite
artículos
Título:
ASTROCYTE-NEURON VULNERABILITY TO PRENATAL STRESS IN THE ADULT RAT BRAIN.
Autor/es:
BARROS, VG; DUHALDE VEGA, M; CALTANA, L; BRUSCO, A; ANTONELLI, MC
Revista:
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
Referencias:
Año: 2006 vol. 83 p. 787 - 800
ISSN:
0360-4012
Resumen:
Chronic activation of the stress response during pregnancy
has been shown to be injurious to the development
of the offspring. We have previously demonstrated
that restraint prenatal stress inflicted during the last week
of pregnancy in rats increased dopamine and glutamate
receptors in forebrain areas of the adult offsprings. In this
study, the same prenatal insult was employed to assess
morphological changes in astrocytes and in the dendritic
arborization in frontal cortex, striatum, and hippocampus
of the adult rat brain. On postnatal day 90, brains were
processed for immunocytochemistry using primary antibodies
to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP; the main
cytoskeletal astroglial protein), S100B protein (an astroglial-
derived neurotrophic factor), MAP-2 (a microtubuleassociated
protein present almost exclusively in dendrites),
and synaptophysin (Syn; one major integral protein
of the synaptic vesicles membrane). The results
show a significant increase in the cell area of GFAP-immunoreactive
(-IR) astrocytes, with high levels of S100B
protein and a significant decrease in the relative area of
MAP-2-IR neuronal processes in prenatally stressed adult
rats. The expression of synaptophysin decreased in all
areas studied. These results demonstrate that prenatal
stress induces a long-lasting astroglial reaction and a
reduced dendritic arborization, with synaptic loss in the
brain of adult offspring. In addition to the neurochemical
alterations previously reported, these morphological
changes might be underlying the behavioral and
learning impairment previously observed in prenatally
stressed rats.