Neonatal treatment with lipopolysaccharide differentially affects adult anxiety responses in the light–dark test and taste neophobia test in male and female rats

Neonatal administration of the bacterial cell wall component, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been shown to alter a variety of behavioural and physiological processes in the adult rat, including altering adult anxiety-like behaviour. Research conducted to date, however, has produced conflicting findings with some results demonstrating increases in adult anxiety-like behaviour while others report decreases or no changes in anxiety-like behaviour. Thus, the current study conducted additional evaluation of the effects of neonatal LPS exposure on adult anxiety-like behaviours by comparing the behavioural outcomes in the more traditional light–dark test, together with the less common hyponeophagia to sucrose solution paradigm. Male and female Long–Evans rats were treated systemically with either LPS (50 μg/kg) or saline (0.9%) on postnatal days 3 and 5. Animals were then tested in the light–dark apparatus on postnatal day 90 for 30 min. Next, following 5 days of habituation to distilled water delivery in Lickometer drinking boxes, animal were tested for neophagia to a 10% sucrose solution (0.3 M) for 30 min daily on postnatal days 96 and 97. In the light–dark test, neonatal LPS treatment decreased adult anxiety-like behaviour in females, but not males. In contrast, neonatal exposure to LPS did not influence adult anxiety-like behaviour as measured by hyponeophagia, but altered the licking patterns of drinking displayed towards a novel, palatable sucrose solution in adult males and females, in a manner that may reflect a decrease in situational anxiety. The current study supports the idea that neonatal LPS treatment results in highly specific alterations of adult anxiety-like behaviour, the nature of which seems to depend not only on the measure of anxiety behaviour used, but also possibly, on the degree of anxiety experienced during the behavioural test.

► Dual neonatal LPS treatment effects on adult rat anxiety behaviour were examined.
► Light–dark test and hyponeophagia test were contrasted in adult males and females.
► Neonatal LPS decreased anxiety behaviour in light–dark test in females not males.
► Neonatal LPS altered licking patterns of novel sucrose solution in females and males.
► Effects on adult behaviour may depend on degree of anxiety experienced during test.