Stress during development alters anxiety-like behavior and hippocampal neurotransmission in male and female rats

Epidemiological data indicate that early stress increases vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression. in the present study we sought to investigate the long-term behavioral and neurochemical consequences of increased and sustained corticosterone levels induced by a 24 h bout of maternal deprivation (DEP) imposed on postnatal day 11 (DEP11). As adults, animals were exposed to the elevated plus maze for assessment of anxiety-like behavior and corticosterone response to this challenge, or decapitated for determination of monoamines and amino acid neurotransmitters content in the hippocampus by HPLC method. the results showed that DEP11 male and female rats displayed increased time in the central hub of the maze and more risk assessment behavior, reflecting increased anxiety-like behavior; in addition, these animals continuously secreted corticosterone in response to the behavioral test until the latest time-point, e.g., 60 min post-stress. in males, maternal deprivation increased aspartate and glutamate levels and reduced taurine levels compared to non-deprived (NDEP) rats. DEP11 females displayed reduced noradrenaline, aspartate and GABA levels compared to NDEP counterparts. These results indicate that maternal deprivation at 11 days of age produced changes in hippocampal neurotransmission that may mediate the increased anxiety-like behavior observed in male and female deprived rats.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Anxiety and Depression'. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)INNTCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)CInNAPCeAssociacao Fundo de Incentivo a Psicofarmacologia (AFIP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psicobiol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psiquiatria, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Expt Neurol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed ABC, Ctr Matemat Comp & Cognicao, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Fisiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psicobiol, BR-04024002 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psiquiatria, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Expt Neurol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Fisiol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2004/15039-0FAPESP: 2006/06415-4Web of Scienc