Gestational protein restriction induces CA3 dendritic atrophy in dorsal hippocampal neurons but does not alter learning and memory performance in adult offspring

Studies have demonstrated that nutrient deficiency during pregnancy or in early postnatal life results in structural abnormalities in the offspring hippocampus and in cognitive impairment. In an attempt to analyze whether gestational protein restriction might induce learning and memory impairments associated with structural changes in the hippocampus, we carried out a detailed morphometric analysis of the hippocampus of male adult rats together with the behavioral characterization of these animals in the Morris water maze (MWM). Our results demonstrate that gestational protein restriction leads to a decrease in total basal dendritic length and in the number of intersections of CA3 pyramidal neurons whereas the cytoarchitecture of CA1 and dentate gyrus remained unchanged. Despite presenting significant structural rearrangements, we did not observe impairments in the MWM test. Considering the clear dissociation between the behavioral profile and the hippocampus neuronal changes, the functional significance of dendritic remodeling in fetal processing remains undisclosed. © 2012 ISDN.

Keywords

Behavior, Dendritic remodeling, Fetal programming, Hippocampus, Protein restriction, adult animal, animal behavior, animal cell, animal experiment, animal model, animal tissue, brain atrophy, cell count, cell size, cell structure, cell transformation, controlled study, dendrite, dentate gyrus, gestation period, gestation protein restriction, hippocampal CA3 region, learning, male, maze test, memory, mental performance, morphometrics, nerve cell, nonhuman, priority journal, progeny, protein function, protein restriction, pyramidal nerve cell, rat, structure analysis, Animals, Atrophy, CA3 Region, Hippocampal, Dendrites, Diet, Protein-Restricted, Female, Male, Maze Learning, Neurons, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Rats, Rats, Wistar