The prenatal stress during pregnancy has a wide variety of negative effects on the offspring behaviors. As such, in the present study the effect of prenatal immobilization stress was investigated on the brain BDNF level, spatial memory, anxiety and depression-like behavior in the F1 generation female NMRI mice. Twenty female pregnant mice were randomly allocated to stress and control groups (n = 10/group). The stress group was placed in PVC cylinders (2.5 cm in diameter and 20 cm in length) for one hour/day until the 15th day of pregnancy. The female F1 offspring was nursed by their mothers until reaching 25–30 g (9–10 weeks) which was tested for spatial memory, anxiety and depressive-like behavior using Barnes Maze, elevated plus-maze and forced swimming test, respectively. Also, the brain BDNF level was assessed by the ELISA method. Mice that underwent prenatal restraint stress exhibited impaired spatial memory in the Barnes Maze, which the time and distance to achieve the target hole and the number of errors in the female adult offspring increased than the control group. In the elevated plus-maze, the animals that underwent prenatal restraint stress spent less time in the open arms of the maze and reduced entering the open arms, compared to the control group. In addition, stress caused a significant decrease in swim time and a significant increase in float time for the female adult offspring compared to the control group. The brain BDNF concentration also decreased significantly in the stress group compared to the control group. This data suggests that prenatal stress may impair spatial memory and induce anxiety and depressive-like behavior in the adult offspring female mice via reducing brain BDNF.

中文翻译：

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产前固定应激诱导的雌性小鼠F1代的空间记忆，抑郁和类似焦虑的行为不足：脑源性神经营养因子的可能参与

怀孕期间的产前压力会对后代行为产生各种各样的负面影响。因此，在本研究中，研究了产前固定应激对F1代雌性NMRI小鼠脑BDNF水平，空间记忆，焦虑和抑郁样行为的影响。将20只雌性怀孕小鼠随机分为应激组和对照组（n= 10 /组）。将压力组放置在PVC圆筒中（直径2.5厘米，长度20厘米），每天1小时，直到怀孕第15天。雌性F1后代由其母亲进行护理，直到达到25–30 g（9–10周）为止，分别使用Barnes Maze，升高的迷宫和强迫游泳测试来测试其空间记忆，焦虑和抑郁样行为。另外，通过ELISA方法评估了脑BDNF水平。经历了产前约束压力的小鼠在Barnes迷宫中表现出受损的空间记忆，与对照组相比，达到目标孔的时间和距离以及成年雌性后代的错误数增加了。在高架迷宫中，受到产前约束压力的动物在迷宫的张开双臂上花费的时间更少，并减少了进入张开双臂的时间，与对照组相比。此外，与对照组相比，压力导致成年雌性后代的游泳时间显着减少，漂浮时间显着增加。与对照组相比，应激组的脑BDNF浓度也显着降低。该数据表明，产前应激可能通过减少脑BDNF来损害成年后代雌性小鼠的空间记忆并诱导焦虑和抑郁样行为。