Dysfunction of the hypothalamic‑pituitary‑adrenal axis in male rat offspring with prenatal food restriction: Fetal programming of hypothalamic hyperexcitability and poor hippocampal feedback.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal food restriction (PFR) induces dysfunction of the hypothalamic‑pituitary‑adrenal (HPA) axis in the adult offspring. The aim of the present study was to identify the underlying mechanism of this process. Pregnant rats were placed on a restricted diet between gestational day 11 and 21. The offspring were fed with a high‑fat diet and were subjected to unpredictable chronic stress (UCS) from postnatal week 17 to 20. A higher serum corticosterone (CORT) level was observed in the PFR fetuses. Although lower arginine vasopressin (AVP), hippocampal vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (vGLUT2) and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) mRNA expression levels were detected in the hippocampi of PFR fetuses, the ratio of the mRNA expression levels of vGLUT2 and GAD65 was higher compared with th

SUBMITTER: Wen Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8619836 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature