Prenatal stress (PS) is a major risk factor for the development of emotional disorders in adulthood that may be mediated by an altered hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response to stress. Although the early onset of stress-related disorders is recognized as a major public health problem, to date, there are relatively few studies that have examined the incidence of early-life stressors in younger individuals. In this study, we assessed PS impact on the stress-coping response of juvenile offspring in behavioral tests and in the induced molecular changes in the hippocampus. Furthermore, we assessed if pregnancy stress could be driving changes in patterns of maternal behavior during early lactation. We found that PS modified stress-coping abilities of both sex offspring. In the hippocampus, PS increased the expression of bdnf-IV and crfr1 and induced sex difference changes on glucocorticoids and BDNF mRNA receptor levels. PS changed the hippocampal epigenetic landscape mainly in male offspring. Stress during pregnancy enhanced pup-directed behavior of stressed dams. Our study indicates that exposure to PS, in addition to enhanced maternal behavior, induces dynamic neurobehavioral variations at juvenile ages of the offspring that should be considered adaptive or maladaptive, depending on the characteristics of the confronting environment. Our present results highlight the importance to further explore risk factors that appear early in life that will be important to allow timely prevention strategies to later vulnerability to stress-related disorders.

产前应激（PS）是成年期情绪障碍发生的主要危险因素，可能是由下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴对压力的反应改变介导的。尽管与压力相关的疾病的早发被认为是一个主要的公共卫生问题，但迄今为止，很少有研究检查年轻人早期生活压力源的发生率。在这项研究中，我们通过行为测试和诱导的海马分子变化评估了 PS 对幼年后代压力应对反应的影响。此外，我们还评估了妊娠压力是否会导致哺乳早期母亲行为模式的变化。我们发现 PS 改变了两性后代的压力应对能力。在海马体中，PS 增加了bdnf- IV 和crfr1的表达，并诱导糖皮质激素和 BDNF mRNA 受体水平的性别差异变化。 PS 主要改变雄性后代的海马表观遗传景观。怀孕期间的压力增强了应激母鼠的幼崽导向行为。我们的研究表明，接触PS除了增强母体行为外，还会引起后代青少年时期的动态神经行为变化，这些变化应被视为适应性或适应不良，具体取决于所面临环境的特征。我们目前的结果强调了进一步探索生命早期出现的风险因素的重要性，这对于及时采取预防策略以应对以后容易患上压力相关疾病非常重要。