scholarly journals Coping with a changing environment: the effects of early life stress

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 160382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco A. Vindas ◽  
Angelico Madaro ◽  
Thomas W. K. Fraser ◽  
Erik Höglund ◽  
Rolf E. Olsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Artificial Rearing

Ongoing rapid domestication of Atlantic salmon implies that individuals are subjected to evolutionarily novel stressors encountered under conditions of artificial rearing, requiring new levels and directions of flexibility in physiological and behavioural coping mechanisms. Phenotypic plasticity to environmental changes is particularly evident at early life stages. We investigated the performance of salmon, previously subjected to an unpredictable chronic stress (UCS) treatment at an early age (10 month old parr), over several months and life stages. The UCS fish showed overall higher specific growth rates compared with unstressed controls after smoltification, a particularly challenging life stage, and after seawater transfer. Furthermore, subjecting fish to acute stress at the end of the experiment, we found that UCS groups had an overall lower hypothalamic catecholaminergic and brain stem serotonergic response to stress compared with control groups. In addition, serotonergic activity was negatively correlated with final growth rates, which implies that serotonin responsive individuals have growth disadvantages. Altogether, our results may imply that a subdued monoaminergic response in stressful farming environments may be beneficial, because in such situations individuals may be able to reallocate energy from stress responses into other life processes, such as growth.

scholarly journals Impaired developmental microglial pruning of excitatory synapses on CRH-expressing hypothalamic neurons exacerbates stress responses throughout life

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L Bolton ◽  
Annabel K Short ◽  
Shivashankar Othy ◽  
Cassandra L Kooiker ◽  
Manlin Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Excitatory Synapses ◽  
Process Dynamics ◽  
Brain Circuits ◽  
Synapse Density ◽  
And Function

The developmental origins of stress-related mental illnesses are well-established, and early-life stress/adversity (ELA) is an important risk factor. However, it is unclear how ELA impacts the maturation of salient brain circuits, provoking enduring vulnerability to stress and stress-related disorders. Here we find that ELA increases the number and function of excitatory synapses onto stress-sensitive hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-expressing neurons, and implicate disrupted synapse pruning by microglia as a key mechanism. Microglial process dynamics on live imaging, and engulfment of synaptic elements by microglia, were both attenuated in ELA mice, associated with deficient signaling of the microglial phagocytic receptor Mer. Accordingly, selective chemogenetic activation of ELA microglia increased microglial process dynamics and reduced excitatory synapse density to control levels. Selective early-life microglial activation also mitigated the adrenal hypertrophy and prolonged stress responses in adult ELA mice, establishing microglial actions during development as powerful contributors to experience-dependent sculpting of stress-related brain circuits.

Abstract P219: Mice Exposed To Early Life Stress Have Impaired Autonomic Activity At Baseline And In Response To Acute Stress In Adulthood

Hypertension ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K Rhoads ◽  
Kasi C McPherson ◽  
Keri M Kemp ◽  
Bryan Becker ◽  
Jackson Colson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Maternal Separation ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Inactive Period

Early life stress (ELS) is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease in adulthood in both humans and rodent models. Maternal separation and early weaning (MSEW), a model of ELS, produces mice with an increased risk of cardiovascular dysfunction in adulthood, despite resting blood pressures (BP), heart rates (HR), and body weights comparable to normally reared controls. Autonomic regulation of HR and BP is an important component of the homeostatic response to stress but has not been investigated in MSEW mice. We hypothesized that exposure to MSEW impairs autonomic function at baseline and in response to an acute psychosocial stressor in adult male mice. C57Bl/6J litters were randomly assigned to MSEW or normally reared control conditions. MSEW litters were separated from dams for 4 h on postnatal days (PDs) 2-5, 8 h on PDs 6-16, and weaned at PD 17. Control litters were undisturbed until weaning at PD 21. At 9 weeks old, telemeters were implanted in MSEW (n=16) and control mice (n=12). During cage switch stress (CSS), mice were moved to a soiled, unfamiliar cage for 4 h. HR, systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), and activity (monitored by telemetry) were similar between control and MSEW mice at baseline and during CSS (p>0.05, 2-way ANOVA). Spectral analysis of HR, SBP, and DBP indicated that HR variability (HRV) total power was lower in MSEW mice during the 12 h inactive period compared to controls (18.9±1.1 ms 2 vs. 27.5±3.1 ms 2 ; p=0.0033, 2-way ANOVA) at baseline. HRV low frequency (LF) power was also lower during the 12 h inactive period in MSEW mice (4.2±0.4 ms 2 vs.6.6±0.9 ms 2 ; p=0.009). At baseline, 12 h and 24 h DBP variability LF/high frequency (HF) ratio, normalized LF, and normalized HF power were lower in the MSEW group (p<0.05, all comparisons). During the final 90 minutes of CSS, MSEW mice had lower HRV total, LF, and HF power compared to controls (p<0.05); although HR, SBP, DBP, and activity remained similar between groups. These data suggest that MSEW mice have impaired autonomic control of HR and DBP and lack the ability to robustly respond and recover from an acute stressor. Reduced responsiveness of the autonomic nervous system may contribute to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease development in adult mice exposed to MSEW.

scholarly journals Early Life Stress Restricts Translational Reactivity in CA3 Neurons Associated With Altered Stress Responses in Adulthood

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Marrocco ◽  
Jason D. Gray ◽  
Joshua F. Kogan ◽  
Nathan R. Einhorn ◽  
Emma M. O’Cinneide ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Ca3 Neurons

The adaptive and maladaptive continuum of stress responses – a hippocampal perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepika Suri ◽  
Vidita A. Vaidya
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Physiological Level ◽  
Early Stress ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Potential Factors

AbstractExposure to stressors elicits a spectrum of responses that span from potentially adaptive to maladaptive consequences at the structural, cellular and physiological level. These responses are particularly pronounced in the hippocampus where they also appear to influence hippocampal-dependent cognitive function and emotionality. The factors that influence the nature of stress-evoked consequences include the chronicity, severity, predictability and controllability of the stressors. In addition to adult-onset stress, early life stress also elicits a wide range of structural and functional responses, which often exhibit life-long persistence. However, the outcome of early stress exposure is often contingent on the environment experienced in adulthood, and could either aid in stress coping or could serve to enhance susceptibility to the negative consequences of adult stress. This review comprehensively examines the consequences of adult and early life stressors on the hippocampus, with a focus on their effects on neurogenesis, neuronal survival, structural and synaptic plasticity and hippocampal-dependent behaviors. Further, we discuss potential factors that may tip stress-evoked consequences from being potentially adaptive to largely maladaptive.

Early Life Stress: Long-Term Physiological Impact in Rodents and Primates

Physiology ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 150-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Pryce ◽  
Daniela Rüedi-Bettschen ◽  
Andrea C. Dettling ◽  
Joram Feldon
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal ◽  
Physiological Impact ◽  
Pituitary Adrenal Axis

Rat, monkey, and human infants have evolved to expect certain patterns of care. Spontaneous or experimental deviations of care from the norm result in infant stress responses. Hyperactivity of immature stress systems such as the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the limbic-sympatho-adrenomedullary axis can alter their subsequent reactivity across the life span.

scholarly journals Altered hypothalamic DNA methylation and stress-induced hyperactivity following early life stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamon Fitzgerald ◽  
Matthew C. Sinton ◽  
Sara Wernig-Zorc ◽  
Nicholas M. Morton ◽  
Megan C. Holmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Open Field ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Maternal Separation ◽  
Neonatal Period ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Mediated Effects

AbstractExposure to early life stress (ELS) during childhood or prenatally increases the risk of future psychiatric disorders. The effect of stress exposure during the neonatal period is less well understood. In preterm infants, exposure to invasive procedures is associated with altered brain development and future stress responses suggesting that the neonatal period could be a key time for the programming of mental health. Previous studies suggest that ELS affects the hypothalamic epigenome, making it a good candidate to mediate these effects. In this study, we used a mouse model of early life stress (modified maternal separation; MMS). We hypothesised MMS would affect the hypothalamic transcriptome and DNA methylome, and impact on adult behaviour. MMS involved repeated stimulation of pups for 1.5 h/day, whilst separated from their mother, from postnatal day (P) 4–6. 3’mRNA sequencing and DNA methylation immunoprecipitation (meDIP) sequencing were performed on hypothalamic tissue at P6. Behaviour was assessed with the elevated plus, open field mazes and in-cage monitoring at 3–4 months of age. MMS was only associated with subtle changes in gene expression, but there were widespread alterations in DNA methylation. Notably, differentially methylated regions were enriched for synapse-associated loci. MMS resulted in hyperactivity in the elevated plus and open field mazes, but in-cage monitoring revealed that this was not representative of habitual hyperactivity. ELS has marked effects on DNA methylation in the hypothalamus in early life and results in stress-specific hyperactivity in young adulthood. These results have implications for the understanding of ELS-mediated effects on brain development.

scholarly journals Contrasting effects of acute and chronic stress on the transcriptome, epigenome, and immune response of Atlantic salmon

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamsyn M. Uren Webster ◽  
Deiene Rodriguez-Barreto ◽  
Samuel A.M. Martin ◽  
Cock van Oosterhout ◽  
Pablo Orozco-terWengel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Altered Expression ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress

AbstractEarly-life stress can have long-lasting effects on immunity, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. We examined the effects of acute stress (cold-shock during embryogenesis) and chronic stress (absence of tank enrichment during larval-stage) on the gill transcriptome and methylome of Atlantic salmon four months after hatching. While only chronic stress induced pronounced transcriptional effects, both acute and chronic stress caused lasting, and contrasting, changes in the methylome. Crucially, we found that acute stress enhanced immune response to a pathogenic challenge (lipopolysaccharide), while chronic stress suppressed it. We identified stress-induced changes in promoter or gene-body methylation that were associated with altered expression for a small proportion of genes, and also evidence of wider epigenetic regulation within signalling pathways involved in immune response. Our study suggests that early-life stress can affect immuno-competence through epigenetic mechanisms, a finding that could open the way for improved stress and disease management of farmed fish.

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