Effects of stress administered during pregnancy on reproductive capacity and subsequent development of the offspring of rats: prolonged effects on the litters of a second pregnancy

Abstract

The effects of high-anxiety-producing stress administered to rats during pregnancy were studied. The birthweight of offspring of both sexes from the stressed group was found to be significantly lower compared to birthweights of rats, however, were not affected. Mortality rate was significantly higher in the stressed group, although litter size, gestation length and sex ratios were not affected. Mean plasma resting corticosterone levels of the young pups did not differ between the two groups although they rose significantly as they aged in all groups. The offspring of both sexes from stressed mothers responded differently from the controls when subjected to short-term stress (one session) in adulthood. Their increase in plasma corticosterone concentration was significantly below that of the controls. This difference in response was abolished with long-term stress (10 days) when the males, but not the females, had habituated to the stressor. The observed inability to respond adequately to a sudden environmental change suggests a defective emergency response. Lingering effects due to stressing were also found. Male offspring of a second litter, conceived by the original mothers 8 weeks after the discontinuation of stress, had significantly lower birthweights than those of the controls. The subsequent growth rate of neither sex was affected nor was the response to short-term stress.

Cigarette Smoke Causes Changes in Liver and Spleen of Mice Newborn Exposed During Pregnancy

“…The decrease in the size of the puppies can be associated to maternal stress during the gestational period. Pollard [23] studying maternal stress induced by high-anxiety observed similarly decrease of body length as observed in our model of cigarette smoke exposition.…”

Prenatal cocaine exposure affects social behavior in Sprague-Dawley rats

“…Acute cocaine administration to adult rats is probably stressful and has been shown to elevate ACTH and corticosterone levels (15), which in the pregnant rat may affect the developing fetus. Repeated corticosterone administration or repeated stress to the pregnant mother has been shown to reduce HPA axis activity in the offspring (19,21). Decreased HPA axis (cortisol) activity has also been reported in human infants prenatally exposed to cocaine (11).…”

“…Saline and cocaine dams received SC injections twice daily throughout gestation (CD [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], at approximately 0900 and 1630 h, of normal saline or 15 mg/kg of cocaine hydrogen chloride (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO) dissolved in distilled water. Surrogates received no treatment during gestation.…”

Effects of pre‐ and postnatal stimulation on developmental, emotional, and cognitive aspects in rodents: A review

“…Prenatal stress may result in high mortality of neonates or small-for-date animals (Guo et al, 1993;Pollard, 1984) and reduced birth weight of the offspring (Fameli et al, 1995;Herrenkohl, 1979;Martinez, & Tarres, 1977;Pollard, 1984;Salgado, Schneider, 1992). It also may provoke physiological alterations in the offspring, such as hypoxia, arterial hypotension, and bradycardia (Myers, 1975;Morishima, Pederson, & Finster, 1978) or increase in heart rate (Sontag, 1941) as well as abnormal adrenal gland response (Braastad, Osadchuk, Lund, & Bakken, 1998;Götz, Stahl, Ohkawa, Mendez-Gomez, & Dörner, 1986;Pollard, 1984).…”