Alterations of proliferation and differentiation of hippocampal cells in prenatally stressed rats

PurposeTo clarify the alterations of proliferation and differentiation of hippocampal cells in prenatally stressed rats.MethodsWe investigated the impact of prenatal restraint stress on the hipocampal cell proliferation in the progeny with 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU), which is a marker of proliferating cells and their progeny. In addition, we observed the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) with double labeling of BrdU/neurofilament (NF), BrdU/glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the hipocampus.ResultsPrenatal stress (PS) increased cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus (DG) only in female and neuron differentiation of newly divided cells in the DG and CA4 in both male and female. Moreover, the NF and GFAP-positive cells, but not the BrdU-positive cells, BrdU/NF and BrdU/GFAP-positive cells, were found frequently in the CA3 and CA1 in the offspring of each group.ConclusionsThese results possibly suggest a compensatory adaptive response to neuronal damage or loss in hippocampus induced by PS.