| Project/Area Number |
06670994
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Research Field |
Psychiatric science
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Department of Neuropsychiatry, Gunma University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
MIKUNI Masahiko Depertment of Neuropsychiatry, Gunma University, 医学部, 助教授 (00125353)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
IDA I Depertment of Neuropsychiatry, Gunma University, 医学部, 助手 (50251103)
飯島 幸生 群馬大学, 医学部・神経精神医学講座, 助手 (60251104)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1994 – 1995
|
| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1995)
|
| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
|
|---|
| Keywords | prenatal stress / neuronal plasiticity / hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis / ストレス脆弱性 / 強制水泳試験 / グルココルチコイド受容体 / 最初期遺伝子 / コルチコトロピン遊離促進ホルモン遺伝子 |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
In this study we have investigated whether animals prenatally exposed to mild stress produce the overactivity of Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and alterations of anxiety-or mood-related behaviors in the response to stressful stimuli as well as a deficit of monoaminergic activities in adult offspring, which are frequently seen in depression. The prenatal saline injection stress increased the corticosterone secretion to a significantly greater extent during conditioned fear stress in offspring at 7 and 28 weeks of age in comparison with controls. In addition, decreased entry numbers into open and closed arms in elevated plus maze for the first 5-min session were observed in the prenatally stressed groups, suggesting that prenatally stressed offspring were more anxious under the new environmental conditions than controls. A prolonged immobility duration in forced swimming test was also observed in the prenatally stressed adult offspring, indicating that the prenatally stressed offspring seemed to be susceptible to behavioral'despair'. On the other hand, the 5-hydroxytryptamine concentration in the hypothalamus from prenatally stressed offspring in adulthood was observed to be higher than controls, in contrast of unaltered serotonin metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. This deficit of serotonergic activity may be one of the vulnerability factors, revealing overactivity of the HPA axis in the response to stressful stimuli. These results of endocrine response and altered behavioral activity under stressful conditions, and the deficit of serotonergic activity suggest that the prenatal saline injection stress model may have a face validity as an animal model of depression.
|
