Effects of a single course of prenatal betamethasone on dendritic development in dentate gyrus granular neurons and on spatial memory in rat offspring.

BACKGROUND: Preterm babies treated with synthetic glucocorticoids (sGC) in utero exhibit behavioral alterations and disturbances in brain maturation during infancy. However, the effects on dentate granule cell morphology and spatial memory in rats that were given clinically equivalent doses of antenatal betamethasone remain unclear. METHODS: Pregnant rats were randomly divided into the following two experimental groups: control (CON) and betamethasone-treated (BET) groups. At gestational day 20 (G20), BET dams were subcutaneously injected with a 0.17 mg/kg betamethasone solution, and CON animals received a similar volume of saline. At postnatal days 22 (P22) and P52, BET and CON offsprings were behaviorally evaluated in the Y-Maze test, and the dentate gyrus granular neurons were histologically analyzed. RESULTS: Animals prenatally treated with a single course of betamethasone exhibit a significant decrement in the dendritic outgrowth of dentate granule cells along with impaired spatial memory when evaluated at P52. Moreover, the body and brain weight of the BET group was significantly lower than the CON group at P0, P22, and P52. CONCLUSION: The current results indicate that a single course of betamethasone in pregnant rats produces significant neuronal and behavioral impairments of the offspring at adolescence along with a decrement in somatic and brain weights at each of the three ages evaluated.

Prenatal stress alters the behavior and dendritic morphology of the medial orbitofrontal cortex in mouse offspring during lactation.

Several preclinical and clinical studies have shown that prenatal stress alters neuronal dendritic development in the prefrontal cortex, together with behavioral disturbances (anxiety). Nevertheless, neither whether these alterations are present during the lactation period, nor whether such findings may reflect the onset of anxiety disorders observed in childhood and adulthood has been studied. The central aim of the present study was to determine the effects of prenatal stress on the neuronal development and behavior of mice offspring during lactation (postnatal days 14 and 21). We studied 24 CF-1 male mice, grouped as follows: (i) control P14 (n=6), (ii) stressed P14 (n=6), (iii) control P21 (n=6) and (iv) stressed P21 (n=6). On the corresponding days, animals were evaluated with the open field test and sacrificed. Their brains were then stained in Golgi-Cox solution for 30 days. The morphological analysis dealt with the study of 96 pyramidal neurons. The results showed, first, that prenatal stress resulted in a significant (i) decrease in the apical dendritic length of pyramidal neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex at postnatal day 14, (ii) increase in the apical dendritic length of pyramidal neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex at postnatal day 21, and (iii) reduction in exploratory behavior at postnatal day 14 and 21.

Violencia doméstica en mujeres con patología mental ambulatoria / Domestic abuse against women suffering from ambulatory mental disease

Introducción: Se reconoce la violencia doméstica (VD) contra la mujer como uno de los factores desencadenantes de trastornos biomédicos, psicológicos y sociales. Estudios realizados en Chile han reportado que mujeres que viven en un estado de agresión mantenida presentan síntomas como tensión y angustia, depresión, insomnio y pérdida de concentración. Objetivos, Materiales y Métodos: Un estudio observacional de tipo transversal fue realizado para dimensionar la magnitud de violencia doméstica en mujeres con patología mental ambulatoria, contextualizar sus características-consecuencias y probar la eficiencia de un sistema de tamizaje. Población sujeto fueron 59 mujeres controladas por depresión y/o trastorno ansioso en Programa de Salud Mental (PSM) del ConsultorioRural de San José de la Mariquina. Resultados: Nueve de cada diez mujeres con depresión y/o trastorno ansioso reconocen episodios de violencia doméstica (86,4 por ciento), hallazgo que confirma el fuerte impacto de VD en el campo de la salud pública, salud mental y de derechos humanos. También se presentan especificidades del tipo de violencia (específicamente violencia de género), intensidad y zonas corporales de maltrato, junto con la descripción de variables más asociadas a estados depresivos y ansiosos. Se reafirma la evidencia que VD se hace visible cuando se utilizan sistemas de tamizaje específicos. La prevalencia de violencia doméstica fue 1,5 veces más alta a la detectada por los sistemas vigentes del PSM y, 2,7 veces mayor a la identificada por el equipo de salud del consultorio. Conclusiones: La magnitud de VD en mujeres con depresión y/o trastorno ansioso hace perentorio profundizar en la diversidad de contextos de violencia doméstica para, posteriormente emprender intervenciones interdisciplinarias con pertinencia.

Perinatal exposure to various environmental pollutants and other chemical agents irreversibly affects thedifferentiation and programming of various cell-types. This process quantitatively and qualitatively alters their hormone receptors through the mechanism of imprinting, affecting their function and determining the development of various pathologies later in life. The present report describes the most conspicuous agents acting through this mechanism, affecting for life reproductive health and sexuality. The study in detail of this mechanism, the identification of imprinting-inducing agents and the development of legislative and administrative measures to minimize damage constitute a pending challenge to improve future generations reproductive health.