Maternal high-fat diet during pregnancy or lactation changes the somatic and neurological development of the offspring / Dieta materna rica em gordura durante a gravidez ou lactacao altera o desenvolvimento somatico e neurologico da prole

The maternal exposure to high fat diet (HFD) during pregnancy and breastfeeding have been considered an important inducer of alterations in offspring normal programming, both in animals and humans, and may disturb brain development. In the present study we investigated the somatic and sensory-motor development of the offspring from rat dams fed a HFD, compared with dams fed a control diet, during pregnancy or lactation. Indicators of the body growth, physical maturation, and reflex ontogeny were evaluated. Offspring of dams fed a HFD showed reduced weight and body growth, delayed physical maturation, and delayed maturation of the physiological reflexes, such as vibrissa placing, auditory startle response, and free-fall righting. Our findings suggest that maternal HFD during pregnancy or lactation modifies somatic and neurological development of the offspring, possibly increasing the risk of neuroendocrine and neuropsychiatric disorders later in life.

A exposição materna a dieta rica em gordura (DRG) durante a gravidez e a amamentação tem sido considerada um importante indutor de alterações da programação normal da prole, em animais e humanos, e pode atrapalhar o desenvolvimento do cérebro. No presente estudo, investigamos o desenvolvimento somático e sensório-motor da prole de ratas alimentadas com uma DRG, em comparação com ratas alimentadas com uma dieta controle, durante a gravidez ou lactação. Foram avaliados indicadores de crescimento corporal, maturação física e ontogênese de reflexos. A prole de ratas alimentadas com DRG mostrou redução de peso e crescimento do corpo, atraso da maturação física e maturação tardia de reflexos fisiológicos, tais como colocação pelas vibrissas, resposta ao susto e reação de aceleração. Nossos resultados sugerem que DRG materna durante a gravidez ou lactação modifica desenvolvimento somático e neurológico da prole, possivelmente aumentando o risco para distúrbios neuroendócrinos e neuropsiquiátricos mais tarde na vida.

Neonatal treatment with fluoxetine reduces depressive behavior induced by forced swim in adult rats

Serotonin plays a role at the pathophysiology of depression in humans and in experimental models. The present study investigated the depressive behavior and the weigh evolution in adult rats (60 days) treated from the 1st to the 21st postnatal day with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (10 mg/kg, sc, daily). The depressive behavior was induced by the forced swim test (FST). The animals were submitted to two sessions of FST: 1st session for 15 min and the 2nd session 24h later, for 5 min. During the 2nd session the Latency of the Attempt of Escape (LAE) and Behavioral Immobility (BI) were appraised. The Fluoxetine group when compared to the Control group, showed an increase in LAE and a decrease in BI. The neonatal administration of fluoxetine reduced the depressive behavior in adult rats, possibly by increase in the brain serotonergic activity. This alteration can be associated to process of neuroadaptation