Postnatal exposure to fluoxetine led to cognitive-emotional alterations and decreased parvalbumin positive neurons in the hippocampus of juvenile Wistar rats.
Ywlliane da Silva Rodrigues MeurerSara Sophia Guedes LinharesAlvaro da Costa LimaAntonio Carlos Queiroz de AquinoLuiz Eduardo Mateus BrandãoDiana Aline NôgaClarissa Loureiro das Chagas CampeloRamon Hypólito LimaJeferson de Souza CavalcanteRovena Clara Galvão Januário EngelberthAlessandra Mussi RibeiroRegina Helena SilvaPublished in: International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience (2021)
The exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during development results in behavioural impairment in adulthood in humans and animal models. Indeed, serotonergic overexpression in early life leads to structural and functional changes in brain circuits that control cognition and emotion. However, the effects of developmental exposure to these substances on the behaviour of adolescent rats are conflicting and remain poorly characterised. We performed a behavioural screening to investigate the effects of postnatal exposure to fluoxetine on memory and behaviours related to anxiety, anhedonia, and depression, as well we evaluate the parvalbumin expression in hippocampus of juvenile (~PND45) female and male rats. Fluoxetine (daily 20 mg/kg s.c. injections from PND7-PND21)- or vehicle-treated adolescent rats went through several behavioural tasks (from PND 38 to PND52) and were subject to transcardial perfusion and brain removal for immunohistochemical analysis (PND53). We found that postnatal exposure to fluoxetine increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviours in the open field and sucrose preference and forced swimming tests, respectively. In addition, this treatment induced working memory and short-term (but not long-term) recognition memory impairments, and reduced parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the hippocampus. In addition, the results revealed developmental sex-dependent effects of fluoxetine postnatal treatment on adolescent rats' behaviour. These outcomes indicate that affective disorders and mnemonic alterations caused by SSRIs perinatal exposure can be present at adolescence.
Keyphrases
- working memory
- early life
- preterm infants
- young adults
- depressive symptoms
- mental health
- cerebral ischemia
- white matter
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- bipolar disorder
- pregnant women
- spinal cord
- autism spectrum disorder
- physical activity
- sleep quality
- poor prognosis
- resting state
- type diabetes
- single cell
- spinal cord injury
- blood brain barrier
- multiple sclerosis
- diabetic rats
- high glucose
- skeletal muscle
- functional connectivity
- mild cognitive impairment
- newly diagnosed
- data analysis