Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, Massachusetts.
Neuroscience and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, California.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2019 Sep;31(9):e12711. doi: 10.1111/jne.12711. Epub 2019 Apr 10.
The social environment of lactation is a key etiological factor for the occurrence of postpartum disorders affecting women and their children. Postpartum depression and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in new mothers and negatively affect offspring's cognitive development through mechanisms which are still unclear. Here, using a rat model, we manipulated the maternal social environment during lactation and explored the pathways through which social isolation (vs. the opportunity for limited social interaction with another lactating female, from 1 day before parturition to postpartum day 16) and chronic social conflict (daily exposure to a male intruder from postpartum day 2 to day 16) affect offspring learning and memory, measured at 40 to 60 days of age. We specifically explored the consequences of these social treatments on two main hypothesized mediators likely to affect offspring neurophysiological development: the quality of maternal care and maternal inflammation factors (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor) likely to influence offspring development through lactation. Maternal rats which had the opportunity to interact with another lactating female spent more time with their pups which, in turn, displayed improved working and reference memory. Social stress affected maternal plasma levels of cytokines that were associated with cognitive deficits in their offspring. However, females subjected to social stress were protected from these stress-induced immune changes and associated offspring cognitive impairment by increased social affiliation. These results underscore the effects of social interaction for new mothers and their offspring and can be used to inform the development of clinical preventative measures and interventions.
哺乳期的社会环境是影响女性及其子女产后疾病发生的一个关键病因。产后抑郁和焦虑障碍在新妈妈中发病率很高，通过目前尚不清楚的机制对后代的认知发展产生负面影响。在这里，我们使用大鼠模型在哺乳期人为改变母鼠的社会环境，并探讨了社会隔离（与另一只哺乳期母鼠的有限社交互动机会相反，从分娩前 1 天到产后第 16 天）和慢性社会冲突（从产后第 2 天到第 16 天每天暴露于雄性入侵者）如何影响后代的学习和记忆，在 40 至 60 日龄时进行测量。我们特别探讨了这些社会处理对两种主要假设的中介因素的影响，这些因素可能通过哺乳期影响后代的神经生理发育：可能通过哺乳期影响后代发育的母性行为质量和母代炎症因子（脑源性神经营养因子、粒细胞-巨噬细胞集落刺激因子、细胞间黏附分子 1、基质金属蛋白酶 1 抑制剂和血管内皮生长因子）。有机会与另一只哺乳期母鼠互动的母鼠会花更多的时间与幼崽在一起，幼崽的工作记忆和参照记忆也会得到改善。社会压力会影响母鼠血浆中的细胞因子水平，而这些细胞因子与后代的认知缺陷有关。然而，遭受社会压力的雌性通过增加社交联系，免受这些应激引起的免疫变化和相关的后代认知障碍的影响。这些结果强调了新妈妈及其后代进行社会互动的影响，可用于为预防措施和干预措施的发展提供信息。
