nvolvement of Nitric Oxide, Neurotrophins and HPA Axis in Neurobehavioural Alterations Induced by Prenatal Stress

DAMIAN G MAUR; CECILIA GABRIELA PASCUAN; ANA MARÍA GENARO; MARÍA A ZORRILLA ZUBILETE

Perinatal Programming of Neurodevelopment

Springer

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2015; p. 61 - 74

Several studies suggest that negative emotions during pregnancy generate adverseeffects on the cognitive, behavioural and emotional development of the descendants.The psychoneuroendocrine pathways involve the transplacentary passage of maternalglucocorticoids in order to influence directly on fetal growth and brain development.Nitric oxide is a gaseous neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the control ofneural activity by diffusing into neurons and participates in learning and memoryprocesses. It has been demonstrated that nitric oxide is involved in the regulation ofcorticosterone secretion. Thus, it has been found that the neuronal isoform of nitricoxide synthase (nNOS) is an endogenous inhibitor of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) inthe hippocampus and that nNOS in the hippocampus may participate in the modulationof Hypothalamic?Pituitary?Adrenal axis activity via GR.Neurotrophins are a family of secreted growth factors consisting of nerve growth factor(NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin 3 (NT3), and NT4.Although initially described in the nervous system, they regulate processes such as cellsurvival, proliferation, and differentiation in several other compartments. It has beendemonstrated that the NO-citrulline cycle acts together with BDNF in maintaining theprogress of neural differentiation.In the present chapter we explore the interrelation between nitric oxide, glucocorticoidsand neurotrophins in brain areas that are key structures in learning and memoryprocesses. The participation of this interrelation in the behavioural and cognitivealterations induced in the offspring by maternal stress is also adressed.