scholarly journals Sex-Dependent Effects of Developmental Lead Exposure in Wistar Rats: Evidence from Behavioral and Molecular Correlates

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2664
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Tartaglione ◽  
Melania Maria Serafini ◽  
Andrea Raggi ◽  
Francesca Iacoponi ◽  
Elisa Zianni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Longitudinal Assessment ◽  
Effect Modifier ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Behavioral Deficits ◽  
Aspartate Receptor ◽  
Pb Exposure ◽  
Synaptic Distribution

Lead (Pb) exposure in early life affects brain development resulting in cognitive and behavioral deficits. Epidemiologic and experimental evidence of sex as an effect modifier of developmental Pb exposure is emerging. In the present study, we investigated Pb effects on behavior and mechanisms of neuroplasticity in the hippocampus and potential sex differences. To this aim, dams were exposed, from one month pre-mating to offspring weaning, to Pb via drinking water at 5 mg/kg body weight per day. In the offspring of both sexes, the longitudinal assessment of motor, emotional, and cognitive end points was performed. We also evaluated the expression and synaptic distribution of N-methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDA) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits at post-natal day (pnd) 23 and 70 in the hippocampus. Neonatal motor patterns and explorative behavior in offspring were affected in both sexes. Pb effects in emotional response and memory retention were observed in adult females only, preceded by increased levels of GluN2A and GluA1 subunits at the post-synapse at pnd 23. These data suggest that Pb exposure during development affects glutamatergic receptors distribution at the post-synaptic spine in females. These effects may contribute to alterations in selected behavioral domains.

scholarly journals A murine model of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease causes microbiota-gut-brain axis deficits in adulthood

2020 ◽  
Vol 319 (3) ◽  
pp. G361-G374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloisa Salvo ◽  
Patricia Stokes ◽  
Ciara E. Keogh ◽  
Ingrid Brust-Mascher ◽  
Carly Hennessey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Bowel Disease ◽  
Bowel Disease ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Behavioral Deficits ◽  
Colonic Inflammation ◽  
Gut Dysbiosis ◽  
Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease ◽  
Adult Mice ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel

Here we describe long-lasting impacts on the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis following administration of low-dose dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to weaning mice (P21), including gut dysbiosis, colonic inflammation, and brain/behavioral deficits in adulthood (P56). Early-life DSS leads to acute colonic inflammation, similar to adult mice; however, it results in long-lasting deficits in the MGB axis in adulthood (P56), in contrast to the transient deficits seen in adult DSS. This model highlights the unique features of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

scholarly journals “I Don’t Love My Baby?!”

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-111
Author(s):  
Idun Røseth ◽  
Rob Bongaardt
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
Clinical Case ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
New Mothers ◽  
Life Patterns ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Many new mothers question the nature of their motherly love after birth. This affectionate relationship towards the infant is commonly called bonding in everyday speech, clinical practice and research. Bonding may not sufficiently describe the mother’s emotional response to the infant and does not capture the ambivalence and struggle to develop maternal affection of many women. This study aims to explore the phenomenon of disturbed maternal affection through the clinical case of one mother who experienced severe and prolonged disturbances. Two in-depth interviews led to a descriptive phenomenological analysis. The mother developed depressive symptoms from not feeling enough for her child, not the opposite, as is often hypothesized. We describe and discuss crucial constituents of her experience, such as ambivalence, remoteness, boredom, guilt, and the looming repetition of parenting patterns, and a solution resulting from therapy-enhanced reflection on motherhood vis-à-vis early life patterns, sociocultural expectations and existential predicaments.

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