Dopamine D2 Receptors in a prenatal stress model. Postnatal ontogeny

VIRGINIA G. BARROS; LORENA BOADO; MARTA C. ANTONELLI

La Serena

Congreso; Primera Reunión de la ¨Neurotoxicity Society¨; 2003

Neurotoxicity Society

The ability of an organism to cope with an stressful event in adult life is greatly influenced by previous early experience with stress, specially during the perinatal period.Repeated restraint during the last week of pregnancy was used as a model of prenatal stress, and adoption at birth was used to change the postnatal environment. Adult offsprings of rats stressed during pregnancy (S) exhibited a decrease in the number of [3H]flunitrazepam, benzodiazepine receptors (BDZ) binding sites in the basolateral amigdala (Bl) and laterodorsal septum (LDS), but not in dorsofrontal cortex and Ca1 area of the hippocampus. The levels of BDZ receptors in Bl and LDS seems to be predictive of an ansiogenic behaviour, that can be demostrated in the elevated plus maze. Adult offsprings of rats stressed during pregnancy (S) exhibited higher levels of anxiety than control rats (C). In contrast, offsprings of control mothers but raised by rats stressed during pregnancy (S/C) showed similar levels of anxiety to stressed groups S/S and S. Levels of anxiety were also similar among C/S, C/C and C groups. These results are suggesting that adult prenatally stressed rats suffer modifications in the GABA/BDZ receptors,that are associated to an ansiogenic behaviour in the adult life. However, changes in the postnatal environment such as adoption by control mothers can revert this ansiogenic behaviour