The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
PLoS One. 2023 Sep 21;18(9):e0291952. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291952. eCollection 2023.
This study investigated the potential impacts of depressive rats' maternal behavior as an early life stress on the outcome of offspring as an adulthood. Offspring from the same mother were divided into two groups, half of them were fostered or remained by a depressive mother, and the other half remained or fostered by a control mother, respectively. The results showed that offspring fostered by depressive mothers presented significant depressive behaviors. Meanwhile, depressive mothers engaged in more grooming during the light cycle, but less off-the-pup behavior during the dark phase. In conclusion, offspring exposed to a postnatal depressive maternal environment developed a depressive-like behavior. Contrarily, postpartum maternal behaviors play an essential role, which might determine the outcome of the next generation. Furthermore, the appropriate timing of postpartum maternal caring sequences, which might eliminate prenatal stressful influences, was recognized and might be a promising approach for reducing children's predisposition to mental disorders in their life time.
本研究探讨了抑郁大鼠的母性行为作为一种早期生活应激对后代成年期结果的潜在影响。来自同一位母亲的后代被分为两组，其中一半由抑郁母亲抚养或由其照顾，另一半则由正常母亲抚养或照顾。结果表明，由抑郁母亲抚养的后代表现出明显的抑郁行为。同时，抑郁母亲在光照周期中进行更多的梳理行为，但在暗期的离窝行为较少。总之，暴露于产后抑郁母性行为环境中的后代会发展出类似抑郁的行为。相反，产后的母性行为起着至关重要的作用，可能决定着下一代的命运。此外，识别出产后母性行为的适当照顾顺序，可能消除产前应激的影响，这可能是减少儿童一生中患精神障碍易感性的一种有前途的方法。
