Effects of handling during a critical period on an animal model of autism

SEIFFE A; ZAPPALA C; DEPINO AM

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XXXII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by reduced sociability, diminishedcommunicative skills and repetitive behaviors. To identify the physiological mechanisms that underlie this disorder, we used a mouse model of ASD: the prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA). Previous results from our group show that weaning VPA mice at postnatal day 21 (PD21) with control mice reverts the reduction in sociability observed in adult VPA mice reared with other VPA peers. These evidences suggested that there is a critical period between PD21 and PD60, when sociability can be determined. To narrow this critical window, we aimed to study the physiological and behavioral consequences of a procedure called handling (H) and carried it out between PD21 and PD34. H was reported to produce long-term behavioral and immune alterations, and can even counteract the effects of prenatal infections. We observed that H reverts some of the behavioral alterations observed in our model: increases sociability and diminishes self-grooming. It also reverts the effects of VPA observed in the forced swimming test and open field test. We will evaluate neuroinflammation and alterations in the piriform cortex, as they were identified previously as candidates in our VPA model. We hope that this study will help us identify a possible physiological mechanism underlying the effects of prenatal VPA exposure on behavior and their rescue by handling.