Exposure to stressful environmental events during the perinatal period can increase vulnerability to psychopathologies that cause neuroendocrine changes associated with deficits in emotional behavior that can appear early in life. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a frequent, chronic, and disabling disorder that negatively impacts the emotional, social, and cognitive behaviors of affected individuals. Thus, we induced PTSD in pregnant rats by applying inescapable footshocks and then investigated the behavioral parameters similar to anxiety in offspring at prepubertal age, in addition to the plasma levels of maternal and offspring corticosterone and expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) in the offspring’s hippocampus. With the dams, maternal behavior, open field, and object recognition tests were performed. With the male and female offspring, we performed the following: quantification of ultrasonic vocalizations, elevated plus-maze test, evaluation of exploratory activity in the open field, and hole board test, as well as plasma corticosterone measurements and Western blotting for GR. Our results showed that gestational PTSD affected maternal behavior, led to anxiety-like symptoms, increased corticosterone levels, and increased GR expression in the offspring’s hippocampus. Therefore, our data can contribute to the understanding of the onset of early (childhood and juvenile/pre-pubertal phases) anxiety owing to exposure to a traumatic event during the gestation period.

在围产期暴露于压力环境事件会增加对精神病的脆弱性，这些精神病会导致与情绪行为缺陷相关的神经内分泌变化，这些变化可能会在生命早期出现。创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 是一种频繁、慢性和致残的疾病，会对受影响个体的情绪、社交和认知行为产生负面影响。因此，我们通过应用不可避免的足震诱发了怀孕大鼠的 PTSD，然后除了母体和后代皮质酮的血浆水平和后代海马体中糖皮质激素受体 (GR) 的表达外，还研究了与青春期前后代焦虑相似的行为参数. 对大坝进行了母性行为、开阔地和物体识别测试。对于雄性和雌性后代，我们执行了以下操作：超声发声的量化、高架十字迷宫测试、开放领域探索活动的评估和孔板测试，以及血浆皮质酮测量和 GR 的蛋白质印迹。我们的研究结果表明，妊娠期 PTSD 会影响母亲的行为，导致类似焦虑的症状，皮质酮水平升高，以及后代海马体中 GR 表达增加。因此，我们的数据有助于了解由于在妊娠期暴露于创伤事件而导致的早期（儿童期和青少年期/青春期前阶段）焦虑的发作。以及血浆皮质酮测量和 GR 的蛋白质印迹。我们的研究结果表明，妊娠期 PTSD 会影响母亲的行为，导致类似焦虑的症状，皮质酮水平升高，以及后代海马体中 GR 表达增加。因此，我们的数据有助于了解由于在妊娠期暴露于创伤事件而导致的早期（儿童期和青少年期/青春期前阶段）焦虑的发作。以及血浆皮质酮测量和 GR 的蛋白质印迹。我们的研究结果表明，妊娠期 PTSD 会影响母亲的行为，导致类似焦虑的症状，皮质酮水平升高，以及后代海马体中 GR 表达增加。因此，我们的数据有助于了解由于在妊娠期暴露于创伤事件而导致的早期（儿童期和青少年期/青春期前阶段）焦虑的发作。