Effect of maternal deprivation on emotion and expression of dopamine transporter in adult rats / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the change of emotion and striatum dopamine transporter(DAT) expression in adult male rats experiencing maternal deprivation, and to explore whether DNA methylation is involved in the regulatory mechanism of DAT expression. Methods Newborn rats were randomly divided into 2 groups a maternal separation group (n=16) and a control group (n=14). The maternal deprivation group were separated from their mother for 6 hours (09∶00-15∶00) per day from postnatal day 1 to 14, while the controls (n=14) without the deprivation. When the rats in the 2 groups were 12 week, their spontaneous anxiety levels and exploratory ability in novel environments were assessed by an elevated plus maze and an open field test. DAT mRNA expression in the striatum was detected by reverse transcription-PCR, and its DNA methylation level was measured by bisulfated DNA sequencing. Results Maternally-deprived rats showed lower ability of exploring in a new environment and lower levels of anxiety than the controls. The expression of DAT mRNA in the striatum of the maternal separation group (0.236±0.043) was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.480±0.107) (P＜0.05). However the DNA methylation level in the promoter region of DAT was not significantly different between the 2 groups. Conclusion Maternal deprivation influenced the emotion and expression of dopamine transporter in adult rats and DNA methylation may not be involved.