The circadian phase of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment affects the risk of behavioral disorders.

ABSTRACT: During pregnancy, maternal endocrine signals drive fetal development and program the offspring's physiology. A disruption of maternal glucocorticoid (GC) homeostasis increases the child's risk of developing psychiatric disorders later in life. We here show in mice, that the time of day of antenatal GC exposure predicts the behavioral phenotype of the adult offspring. Offspring of mothers receiving GCs out-of-phase compared to their endogenous circadian GC rhythm show elevated anxiety, impaired stress coping, and dysfunctional stress-axis regulation. The fetal circadian clock determines the vulnerability of the stress axis to GC treatment by controlling GC receptor (GR) availability in the hypothalamus. Similarly, a retrospective observational study indicates poorer stress compensatory capa

SUBMITTER: Astiz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7367845 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature