Developmental disruption of amygdala transcriptome and socioemotional behavior in rats exposed to valproic acid prenatally.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The amygdala controls socioemotional behavior and has consistently been implicated in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Precocious amygdala development is commonly reported in ASD youth with the degree of overgrowth positively correlated to the severity of ASD symptoms. Prenatal exposure to VPA leads to an ASD phenotype in both humans and rats and has become a commonly used tool to model the complexity of ASD symptoms in the laboratory. Here, we examined abnormalities in gene expression in the amygdala and socioemotional behavior across development in the valproic acid (VPA) rat model of ASD.

Methods

Rat dams received oral gavage of VPA (500 mg/kg) or saline daily between E11 and 13. Socioemotional behavior was tracked across development in both sexe

SUBMITTER: Barrett CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5539636 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature