Prenatal stress induces long-term behavioral sex-dependent changes in rats offspring: the role of the HPA axis and epigenetics

Abstract

Preclinical genetic studies have related stress early exposures with changes in gene regulatory mechanisms, including epigenetic alterations, such as modifications of DNA methylation, histone deacetylation, and histones acetylation. This study evaluates the effects of prenatal stress on the behavior, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, and epigenetic parameters in stressed dams and their offspring. The rats were subjected to a protocol of chronic unpredictable mild stress on the fourteenth day of pregnancy until the birth of offspring. After birth, maternal care was evaluated for six days. Following weaning, the locomotor and depressive-like behaviors of the dams and their offspring (60 days old) were assessed. The HPA axis parameters were evaluated in serum from dams and offspring, and epigenetic parameters (histone acetyltransferase (HAT), histone deacetylase (HDAC), DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activities, and the levels of histone H3 acetylated at lysine residue 9 (H3K9ac) and histone 3 acetylated at lysine residue 14 (H3K14ac)) were assessed in dams' and offspring' brains. Prenatal stress did not significantly influence maternal care; however, it induced manic behavior in female offspring. These behavioral alterations in the offspring were accompanied by hyperactivity of the HPA-axis, epigenetic adaptations in the activity of HDAC and DNMT, and acetylation in the histones H3K9 and H3K14. In addition, the prenatal stressed female offspring showed increased levels of ACTH compared to their male counterpart. Our findings reinforce the impact of prenatal stress on behavior, stress response, and epigenetic profile of offspring.