Social and Cognitive Impairments in Rat Offspring after Ultrasound-Induced Prenatal Stress

O V Abramova; E A Zubkov; Ya A Zorkina; A Yu Morozova; K A Pavlov; V P Chekhonin

doi:10.1007/s10517-020-04790-0

Social and Cognitive Impairments in Rat Offspring after Ultrasound-Induced Prenatal Stress

Bull Exp Biol Med. 2020 Apr;168(6):730-733. doi: 10.1007/s10517-020-04790-0. Epub 2020 Apr 25.

Authors

O V Abramova¹, E A Zubkov², Ya A Zorkina², A Yu Morozova², K A Pavlov², V P Chekhonin^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of the Fundamental and Applied Neurobiology, V. P. Serbsky National Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia. [email protected].
² Department of the Fundamental and Applied Neurobiology, V. P. Serbsky National Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia.
³ N. I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia.

PMID: 32333307
DOI: 10.1007/s10517-020-04790-0

Abstract

We studied the possibility of developing an autism model based on chronic prenatal psychological stress caused by variable frequency ultrasound 20-45 kHz. The offspring of female rats stressed during pregnancy demonstrated reduced time of social contacts in the social interaction test, increased anxiety in the open-field test, and memory impairment in the Morris water maze test in comparison with the control (intact) rat offspring. We also found a reducing trend in the BDNF gene expression in the amygdala in males of the experimental group. The results showed the possibility of developing the animal autism model based on prenatal stress.

Keywords: autism model; autism spectrum disorder; prenatal stress; rat offspring; ultrasound effect.

MeSH terms

Amygdala / metabolism
Amygdala / physiopathology
Animals
Animals, Newborn
Anxiety / etiology
Anxiety / genetics
Anxiety / metabolism
Anxiety / physiopathology*
Autistic Disorder / etiology
Autistic Disorder / genetics
Autistic Disorder / metabolism
Autistic Disorder / physiopathology
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / genetics
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / metabolism
Cognitive Dysfunction / etiology
Cognitive Dysfunction / genetics
Cognitive Dysfunction / metabolism
Cognitive Dysfunction / physiopathology*
Disease Models, Animal
Female
Gene Expression
Male
Maze Learning
Memory Disorders / etiology
Memory Disorders / genetics
Memory Disorders / metabolism
Memory Disorders / physiopathology*
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / etiology
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / genetics
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / metabolism
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / physiopathology*
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Sex Factors
Social Interaction
Stress, Psychological / etiology
Stress, Psychological / genetics
Stress, Psychological / metabolism
Stress, Psychological / physiopathology*
Ultrasonic Waves / adverse effects*

Substances

Bdnf protein, rat
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor