2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Relation between abnormalities of serotonergic neurons and anxiety-related behaviors on prenatally ethanol-exposed rats

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20790766
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
Research Institution	The University of Tokushima
Principal Investigator	OHTA Kenichi The University of Tokushima, 大学院・ヘルスバイオサイエンス研究室, 助教 (50403720)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2009
Keywords	胎生期エタノール曝露 / セロトニン / 不安様行動 / 先天異常学
Research Abstract	We investigated the serotonergic system and anxiety-related behavior of rats prenatally exposed to ethanol. Anxiety-related behavior tests revealed that the susceptibility to anxiety was decreased in prenatally ethanol-exposed rats. However, their innate fears were facilitated only when they were exposed to intensive aversive stimuli. The abnormalities of anxiety-related behaviors might be attributed to the depressed serotonergic action as a result of a reduced number of serotonergic cells in the midbrain raphe nuclei or the abnormal fluctuation in brain serotonin during development.

(4 results)