Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Effects of developmental alcohol and valproic acid exposure on play behavior of ferrets.
Krahe, Thomas E; Filgueiras, Claudio C; Medina, Alexandre E.
Affiliation
  • Krahe TE; Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Richmond, VA, USA; Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Department of Physiology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • Filgueiras CC; Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Richmond, VA, USA; Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Department of Physiology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • Medina AE; Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Richmond, VA, USA; University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baltimore, USA. Electronic address: amedina@peds.umaryland.edu.
Int J Dev Neurosci ; 52: 75-81, 2016 Aug.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27208641
Exposure to alcohol and valproic acid (VPA) during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and fetal valproate syndrome, respectively. Altered social behavior is a hallmark of both these conditions and there is ample evidence showing that developmental exposure to alcohol and VPA affect social behavior in rodents. However, results from rodent models are somewhat difficult to translate to humans owing to the substantial differences in brain development, morphology, and connectivity. Since the cortex folding pattern is closely related to its specialization and that social behavior is strongly influenced by cortical structures, here we studied the effects of developmental alcohol and VPA exposure on the play behavior of the ferret, a gyrencephalic animal known for its playful nature. Animals were injected with alcohol (3.5g/kg, i.p.), VPA (200mg/kg, i.p.) or saline (i.p) every other day during the brain growth spurt period, between postnatal days 10 and 30. The play behavior of pairs of the same experimental group was evaluated 3 weeks later. Both treatments induced significant behavioral differences compared to controls. Alcohol and VPA exposed ferrets played less than saline treated ones, but while animals from the alcohol group displayed a delay in start playing with each other, VPA treated ones spent most of the time close to one another without playing. These findings not only extend previous results on the effects of developmental exposure to alcohol and VPA on social behavior, but make the ferret a great model to study the underlying mechanisms of social interaction.
Subject(s)
Key words

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Play and Playthings / Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Valproic Acid / Ethanol Type of study: Prognostic_studies Limits: Animals / Pregnancy Language: En Journal: Int J Dev Neurosci Year: 2016 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Brazil Country of publication: United States

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Play and Playthings / Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Valproic Acid / Ethanol Type of study: Prognostic_studies Limits: Animals / Pregnancy Language: En Journal: Int J Dev Neurosci Year: 2016 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Brazil Country of publication: United States