Martz Julia, Shelton Micah A, Langen Tristen J, Srinivasan Sakhi, Seney Marianne L, Kentner Amanda C
School of Arts & Sciences, Health Psychology Program, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston Massachusetts, 02115, United States.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 450 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, United States.
Neuroscience. 2025 Feb 16;567:261-270. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.01.007. Epub 2025 Jan 9.
Peripuberty is a significant period of neurodevelopment with long-lasting effects on the brain and behavior. Blocking type 1 corticotropin-releasing factor receptors (CRFR1) in neonatal and peripubertal rats attenuates detrimental effects of early-life stress on neural plasticity, behavior, and stress hormone action, long after exposure to the drug has ended. CRFR1 antagonism can also impact neural and behavioral development in the absence of stressful stimuli, suggesting sustained alterations under baseline conditions. To investigate this further, we administered the CRFR1 antagonist (CRFR1a) R121919 to young adolescent male and female rats across 4 days. Following each treatment, rats were tested for locomotion, social behavior, mechanical allodynia, or prepulse inhibition (PPI). Acute CRFR1 blockade immediately reduced PPI in peripubertal males, but not females. In adulthood, each assay was repeated without CRFR1a exposure to test for persistent effects of the adolescent treatment. Males continued to experience deficits in PPI while females displayed altered locomotion, PPI, and social behavior. The amygdala was collected to measure long-term effects on gene expression. In the adult amygdala, peripubertal CRFR1a induced alterations in pathways related to neural plasticity and stress in males. In females, pathways related to central nervous system myelination, cell junction organization, and glutamatergic regulation of synaptic transmission were affected. Understanding how acute exposure to neuropharmacological agents can have sustained impacts on brain and behavior, in the absence of further exposures, has important clinical implications for developing adolescents.
青春期前后是神经发育的重要时期,对大脑和行为有着持久影响。在新生和青春期前后的大鼠中阻断1型促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子受体(CRFR1),可减轻早年应激对神经可塑性、行为和应激激素作用的有害影响,且在停药很久之后仍有效果。CRFR1拮抗作用在没有应激刺激的情况下也会影响神经和行为发育,这表明在基线条件下会有持续的改变。为了进一步研究这一点,我们在4天内给年轻的青春期雄性和雌性大鼠施用了CRFR1拮抗剂(CRFR1a)R121919。每次治疗后,对大鼠进行运动、社交行为、机械性异常疼痛或前脉冲抑制(PPI)测试。急性CRFR1阻断立即降低了青春期前后雄性大鼠的PPI,但对雌性大鼠没有影响。成年后,在不接触CRFR1a的情况下重复每项测试,以检测青春期治疗的持续影响。雄性大鼠的PPI持续存在缺陷,而雌性大鼠则表现出运动、PPI和社交行为的改变。收集杏仁核以测量对基因表达的长期影响。在成年杏仁核中,青春期前后的CRFR1a诱导了雄性大鼠与神经可塑性和应激相关通路的改变。在雌性大鼠中,与中枢神经系统髓鞘形成、细胞连接组织和突触传递的谷氨酸能调节相关的通路受到影响。了解在没有进一步接触的情况下,急性接触神经药理学药物如何对大脑和行为产生持续影响,对青少年的发育具有重要的临床意义。