Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada; Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax B3H 4R2, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2018 May;91:20-30. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.02.010. Epub 2018 Feb 21.
Paternal preconception risk factors (e.g. stress, diet, drug use) correlate with metabolic dysfunction in offspring, which is often comorbid with depressive and anxiety-like phenotypes. Detection of these risk factors or deleterious phenotypes informs a female about prevailing ecological demands, in addition to potential adverse environment-induced phenotypes that may be disseminated to her offspring. We examined whether a F male rat's prior exposure to an obesogenic high-fat diet (HFD) influences a female's attraction towards a male, subsequent mother-infant interactions and the development of defensive (emotional) responses in the F offspring. Females displayed less interest in the HFD exposed F males relative to control diet-exposed F males. Dams that reared F offspring in larger, semi-naturalistic housing provided more licking and grooming and active arched-back-nursing behavior. However, some of these effects interacted with paternal experience. F HFD and maternal rearing environment revealed sex-dependent, between group differences in F offspring wean weight, juvenile social interactions and anxiety-like behavior in adolescence. Our results show for the first time in mammals that male exposure to HFD may contribute to stable behavioral variation among females in courtship, maternal care, even when the females are not directly exposed to a HFD, and anxiety-like behavior in F offspring. Furthermore, when offspring were exposed to a predatory threat, hypothalamic Crf gene regulation was influenced by early housing. These results, together with our previous findings, suggest that paternal experience and maternal rearing conditions can influence maternal behavior and development of defensive responses of offspring.
父代孕前风险因素（如压力、饮食、药物使用）与后代的代谢功能障碍相关，后者常伴有抑郁和焦虑样表型。检测这些风险因素或有害表型可以使女性了解当前的生态需求，以及可能传播给后代的潜在不利环境诱导表型。我们研究了雄性大鼠先前暴露于致肥胖高脂肪饮食（HFD）是否会影响雌性对雄性的吸引力、随后的母婴互动以及 F 代后代防御（情绪）反应的发展。与对照饮食暴露的 F 代雄性相比，雌性对 HFD 暴露的 F 代雄性的兴趣较低。在更大、半自然的环境中养育 F 代后代的母鼠提供了更多的舔舐和梳理以及积极的拱形背哺乳行为。然而，其中一些影响与父代经验相互作用。F HFD 和母代养育环境揭示了 F 代后代在断奶体重、青少年社交互动和青春期焦虑样行为方面存在性别依赖性的组间差异。我们的研究结果首次表明，在哺乳动物中，雄性暴露于 HFD 可能导致雌性在求偶、母性照顾方面存在稳定的行为变异，即使雌性没有直接暴露于 HFD，也会导致 F 代后代出现焦虑样行为。此外，当后代暴露于捕食性威胁时，早期的住房条件会影响下丘脑 Crf 基因的调节。这些结果与我们之前的研究结果一起表明，父代经验和母代养育条件可以影响母性行为和后代防御反应的发展。
