Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada.
School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Science (IUMS), Tehran, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 5;7(1):10560. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-09799-6.
Noise stress is a common environmental pollutant whose adverse effect on offspring performance has been less studied. This study was novel in terms of using "noise" as a prenatal stress compared with physical stress to explore the effect of stress during gestation on HPA axis activation, cognitive performance, and motor coordination, as well as in investigating the effect of behavioral assessments on the corticosterone (CORT) levels. Three groups of C57BL/6 mice with a gestational history of either noise stress (NS), physical stress (PS), or no stress were examined in several behavioral tests. Plasma CORT level was significantly higher before starting the behavioral tests in NS group than the two other groups. It was significantly increased after the behavioral tests in both prenatal stressed groups relative to the controls. Stress caused anxiety-like behavior and reduced learning and memory performance in both stressed groups compared to the controls, as well as decreased motor coordination in the NS group relative to the other groups. The findings suggested that: prenatal NS severely changes the HPA axis; both prenatal stressors, and particularly NS, negatively impair the offspring's cognitive and motor performance; and, they also cause a strong susceptibility to interpret environmental experiences as stressful conditions.
噪声应激是一种常见的环境污染物，其对后代表现的不良影响研究较少。与物理应激相比，本研究使用“噪声”作为产前应激来探索应激对 HPA 轴激活、认知表现和运动协调的影响，以及研究行为评估对皮质酮（CORT）水平的影响，这是新颖的。对具有噪声应激（NS）、物理应激（PS）或无应激妊娠史的三组 C57BL/6 小鼠进行了多项行为测试。在开始行为测试之前，NS 组的血浆 CORT 水平明显高于其他两组。与对照组相比，在行为测试后，两个产前应激组的 CORT 水平均显著升高。与对照组相比，应激导致焦虑样行为，并降低了两个应激组的学习和记忆表现，而 NS 组的运动协调能力相对其他组降低。研究结果表明：产前 NS 严重改变了 HPA 轴；两种产前应激源，尤其是 NS，严重损害了后代的认知和运动表现；而且，它们还导致对环境体验的强烈敏感性，将其解释为应激条件。
