Effects of gestational stress: 1. Evaluation of maternal and juvenile offspring behavior

Long maternal separation has protective effects in rats exposed to activity‐based anorexia

“…This treatment involved a greater disturbance for females than that experienced by the pregnant females in our study. Moreover, the disturbances caused by transport form the Animal Resources Centre to the lab are not comparable in terms of intensity and the duration of stressors in the manipulation employed in the literature on prenatal stress (Archer & Blackman, 1971;Baker et al, 2008;Vallée et al, 1996;Wakshlak & Weinstock, 1990). Thus, in the light of the procedures reported in the literature, the stress associated with the environmental change suffered by pregnant females in our study was probably not sufficient to make differences in the offspring.…”

In utero programming alters adult response to chronic mild stress: Part 3 of a longitudinal study

“…Both of these models have been extensively evaluated, particularly in male rodents (GS reviewed in Weinstock, 2008;CMS reviewed in Willner, 2005). It has been shown by our laboratory that GS significantly decreases weight gain in the dam and her female offspring (Baker et al, 2008). This is in line with other studies showing that maternal weight (Barlow et al, 1978;Darnaudery et al, 2004) and offspring weight (Hashemi et al, 2013;Williams et al, 1998) decrease after GS.…”

The Effect of Prenatal Stress on Auditory Brainstem Responses in Rat Pups

“…These findings have been reported in both animal and human studies (1,14). Therefore, it seems that a person's overall health throughout life is strongly influenced by exposure to high levels of stress during the fetal period (3).…”

“…To create such stress patterns, a chronic mild stress (CMS) regimen is usually used (2). Following introduction of stress, the level of stress hormones, such as glucocorticoid, is increased in the body (3). Glucocorticoids effectively cross the placenta and affect the fetus (1).…”

“…Although glucocorticoids play a vital role in differentiation of several tissues, including lungs and heart (4), long-term exposure of the fetal to this hormone can inhibit the growth of the fetus and change its maturity trajectory (1). Since the fetus is passing through its golden developmental stage (3), such hormonal abnormalities could make some basic changes in cell metabolism pattern (3). According to previous studies, animals with a history of prenatal stress show abnormalities in their hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA), which is recognized through a number of signs, including raise in basic levels of glucocorticoids as well as long-term upregulation of this hormone after exposure to an acute stressful event (5).…”