Effect of prenatal stress on the expression of anxiety in adulthood, on elevated T maze

• Grant number: 12/19973-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2013
• End date: July 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Telma Goncalves Carneiro Spera de Andrade
• Grantee: Flaviane Cristina de Brito Guzzo Soliani
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The manifestation of anxiety in adulthood cannot always be explained by genetic factors, environmental and person's history in postnatal life. Thus, many doubts still exist regarding the genesis of this mental disorder that remains a challenge in the field of science, considering that the use of anxiolytics has been very high, especially in women, who are most susceptible to this disorder. Thereby, based on previous studies that point to the prenatal period as a phase in which the progenitress can pass her experiences through molecular communication and permanently affect the embryo or fetus, the present study aim to exposure rats to different types of chronic stressors at different stages of gestation and subsequently evaluate the offspring's profile of anxiety in postnatal life. The rats (progenitresses) will be divided into two groups: control and experimental. The rats in the control group will remain grouped in their boxes (five animals per cage). The experimental rats will be divided into two subgroups: in the subgroup of separation, they will only be housed individually (one animal per cage). In the other subgroup, in addition to the separation, they will be submitted to a chronic scheme of stress for 7 days. These manipulations will be conducted in three distinct stages: 1st stage: exposure to stressors in the 1st week of gestation; 2nd stage: exposure to stressors in the 2nd week of gestation, 3rd stage: exposure to stressors in the 3rd week of gestation. On the last day of chronic scheme of stress each rat will be submitted to elevated plus maze (EPM), an animal model of anxiety, to evaluate if the scheme changed their emotional state. After birth, the mother will be placed in a separate cage with her offspring, until they complete 21 days of postnatal life, when they will be sexed and grouped. The behavioral assessments of offspring will be conducted at 30 days,90 days or 180 days after birth, respectively, using the elevated T maze (ETM), an animal model that separately assesses two types of anxiety, generalized anxiety and panic, and then they will be evaluated in open field, to check if there was increased motor activity and if this may have influenced the ETM. Statistical analysis of data will be performed, so as the correlation test between the results of progenitress and offspring, in order to verify if the increase of maternal anxiety caused increased anxiety on the litter at different ages analyzed. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE BRITO GUZZO SOLIANI, FLAVIANE CRISTINA; CABBIA, RAFAEL; BATISTELA, MATHEUS FITIPALDI; ALMEIDA, AMARYLIS GARCIA; KUMPEL, VINICIUS DIAS; YAMAUCHI JUNIOR, LUIZ; CARNEIRO SPERA DE ANDRADE, TELMA GONCALVES. Impact of social separation during pregnancy on the manifestation of defensive behaviors related to generalized anxiety and panic throughout offspring development. PLoS One, v. 12, n. 10, OCT 16 2017. (13/10808-5, 12/19973-6)

DE BRITO GUZZO SOLIANI, FLAVIANE CRISTINA; CABBIA, RAFAEL; KUMPEL, VINICIUS DIAS; BATISTELA, MATHEUS FITIPALDI; ALMEIDA, AMARYLIS GARCIA; YAMAUCHI JUNIOR, LUIZ; CARNEIRO SPERA DE ANDRADE, TELMA GONCALVES. Unpredictable chronic prenatal stress and manifestation of generalized anxiety and panic in rat's offspring. PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY, v. 85, p. 89-97, JUL 13 2018. (13/10808-5, 12/19973-6)

CRISTINA DE BRITO GUZZO, SOLIANI FLAVIANE; RAFAEL, CABBIA; FITIPALDI, BATISTELA MATHEUS; GARCIA, ALMEIDA AMARYLIS; DIAS, KUEMPEL VINICIUS; LUIZ, YAMAUCHI JUNIOR; FERNANDO, FREI; GONCALVES CARNEIRO DE SPERA, ANDRADE TELMA. Impact of chronic stressors on the anxiety profile of pregnant rats. Physiology & Behavior, v. 142, p. 137-145, APR 1 2015. (12/19973-6, 13/10808-5)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SOLIANI, Flaviane Cristina de Brito Guzzo. Estresse pré-natal, perfil de ansiedade de progenitoras na gestação e de sua progênie ao longo do desenvolvimento. 2014. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências e Letras. Assis Assis.