The mother-infant relation is important for brain development and maturation. To investigate hippocampus changes, we used 18 male rat pups from three dams. Pups were divided into a maternal care (control) group, a maternal separation (MS) group and a MS plus fluoxetine (MS + Fl) treated group. On postnatal day 22, pups were weaned and their serum corticosterone level measured. At 2 months, the hippocampus was removed and processed for histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study. MS caused significant elevation of serum corticosterone level and a significant decrease in the thickness of the pyramidal and granular layers of the cornu ammonis 3 (CA3) and dentate gyrus (DG) areas of the hippocampus. Both CA3 and DG areas exhibited degenerative changes in nerve cells, which were shrunken with pyknotic nucleus and darkly stained cytoplasm. Electron microscopy showed condensed chromatin, degenerated mitochondria, cytoplasmic vacuoles and electron lucent cytoplasm with loss of most polyribosomes. Immunohistochemical staining showed significantly increased numbers of glial fibrillary acid protein-positive cells in the CA3 and DG, and numbers of Ki-67stained cells in the DG in the MS group compared to the control group. All adverse changes were ameliorated in the MS + Fl group. Our findings corroborate the importance of the mother-infant relation to hippocampal development and demonstrate a protective role for Fl in MS pups.

中文翻译：

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氟西汀改善母体早期分离后大鼠的海马成年损伤。生化，组织学和免疫组化研究。

母婴关系对大脑发育和成熟很重要。为了调查海马的变化，我们使用了来自三个水坝的18只雄性幼崽。幼崽分为产妇护理（对照组），产妇分离（MS）组和MS加氟西汀（MS + Fl）治疗组。出生后第22天，给幼仔断奶，并测定其血清皮质酮水平。2个月后，取出海马并进行组织学，免疫组织化学和超微结构研究。MS导致血清皮质类固醇水平显着升高，海马角膜3（CA3）和齿状回（DG）区域的锥体和颗粒层厚度显着减少。CA3和DG区域均表现出神经细胞的变性变化，被收缩的细胞核和染黑的细胞质所收缩。电子显微镜显示染色质浓缩，线粒体变性，细胞质液泡和电子透明细胞质，大多数多核糖体丢失。免疫组化染色显示，与对照组相比，MS组的CA3和DG中胶质纤维酸性蛋白阳性细胞数量显着增加，而DG中的Ki-67染色细胞数量明显增加。MS + F1组所有不良变化均得到改善。我们的发现证实了母婴关系对海马发育的重要性，并证明了F1在MS幼崽中的保护作用。免疫组化染色显示，与对照组相比，MS组的CA3和DG中胶质纤维酸性蛋白阳性细胞数量显着增加，而DG中的Ki-67染色细胞数量明显增加。MS + F1组所有不良变化均得到改善。我们的发现证实了母婴关系对海马发育的重要性，并证明了F1在MS幼崽中的保护作用。免疫组化染色显示，与对照组相比，MS组的CA3和DG中胶质纤维酸性蛋白阳性细胞数量显着增加，而DG中的Ki-67染色细胞数量明显增加。MS + F1组所有不良变化均得到改善。我们的发现证实了母婴关系对海马发育的重要性，并证明了F1在MS幼崽中的保护作用。