Early morphological and neurochemical changes of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST) in gestational protein-restricted male offspring.
D B TorresA LopesA J RodriguesA P Ventura-SilvaN SousaJosé Antônio Rocha GontijoP A BoerMarcelo Gustavo LopesPublished in: Nutritional neuroscience (2024)
analysis from 7-day-old LP revealed reduced levels of GR and BDNF associated with enhanced CRF1 expression compared to NP offspring. 14-day-old LP offspring showed reduced expression of MR and 5HT1A associated with decreased DOPAC and DOPA turnover levels relative to NP rats. In Conclusion, the BNST cellular and neurochemical changes may represent adaptation during development in response to elevated fetal exposure to maternal corticosteroid levels. In this way, gestational malnutrition alters the BNST content and structure and contributes to already-known behavioral changes.