Role of prenatal undernutrition in the expression of serotonin, dopamine and leptin receptors in adult mice: implications of food intake.

Perturbations in the levels of serotonin expression have a significant impact on behavior and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several neuropsychiatric disorders including anxiety, mood and appetite. Fetal programming is a risk factor for the development of metabolic diseases during adulthood. Moreover, previous studies have shown that serotonin (5‑HT), dopamine and leptin are important in energy balance. In the present study, the impact of maternal malnutrition‑induced prenatal undernutrition (UN) was investigated in mice and the expression of 5‑HT1A, dopamine (D)1, D2 and Ob‑Rb receptors was analyzed in the hypothalamus during adulthood. The UN group showed a low birth weight compared with the control group. With regard to receptor expression, 5‑HT1A in the UN group was increased in the hypothalamus and D1 was reduced, whereas D2 showed an increase from postnatal day (P)14 in the arcuate nucleus. Ob‑Rb receptor expression was increased in the hypothalamus at P14 and P90. These observations indicated that maternal caloric restriction programs a postnatal body weight gain in offspring with an increased food intake in early postnatal life which continues into adulthood. In addition, UN in mice was found to be affected by Ob‑Rb, 5‑HT1A and D1/2 receptor expression, indicating that these observations may be associated with hyperphagia and obesity.