Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder caused by an interplay between genetic and environmental factors, including early postnatal stressors. To explore this issue, we use two rat lines, apomorphine-susceptible (APO-SUS) rats that display schizophrenia-relevant features and their phenotypic coun...
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doaj-9889c560f8f4401e975fa8fe200e07452020-11-24T21:40:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532014-08-01810.3389/fnbeh.2014.00268104015Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophreniaRuben W M Van Vugt0Francisca eMeyer1Josephus A Van Hulten2Jeroen eVernooij3Alexander R Cools4Michel M M Verheij5Michel M M Verheij6Gerard J M Martens7Radboud UniversityRadboud UniversityRadboud UniversityRadboud UniversityRadboud University Medical CentreRadboud University Medical CentreScripps Research InstituteRadboud UniversitySchizophrenia is a complex mental disorder caused by an interplay between genetic and environmental factors, including early postnatal stressors. To explore this issue, we use two rat lines, apomorphine-susceptible (APO-SUS) rats that display schizophrenia-relevant features and their phenotypic counterpart, apomorphine-unsusceptible (APO-UNSUS) rats. These rat lines differ not only in their gnawing response to apomorphine, but also in their behavioral response to novelty (APO-SUS: high, APO-UNSUS: low). In this study, we examined the effects of early postnatal cross-fostering on maternal care and on the phenotypes of the cross-fostered APO-SUS and APO-UNSUS animals later in life. Cross-fostered APO-UNSUS animals showed decreased body weights as pups and decreased novelty-induced locomotor activity as adults (i.e., more extreme behavior), in accordance with the less appropriate maternal care provided by APO-SUS versus their own APO-UNSUS mothers (i.e., the APO-SUS mother displayed less non-arched-back nursing and more self-grooming, and was more away from its nest). In contrast, cross-fostered APO-SUS animals showed increased body weights as pups and reduced apomorphine-induced gnawing later in life (i.e., normalisation of their extreme behavior), in line with the more appropriate maternal care provided by APO-UNSUS relative to their own APO-SUS mothers (i.e., the APO-UNSUS mother displayed more non-arched-back nursing and similar self-grooming, and was not more away). Furthermore, we found that, in addition to arched-back nursing, non-arched-back nursing was an important feature of maternal care, and that cross-fostering APO-SUS mothers, but not cross-fostering APO-UNSUS mothers, displayed increased apomorphine-induced gnawing. Thus, cross-fostering not only causes early postnatal stress shaping the phenotypes of the cross-fostered animals later in life, but also affects the phenotypes of the cross-fostering mothers.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00268/fullSchizophreniamaternal careCross-fosteringearly-postnatal stressapomorphine-susceptible and apomorphine-unsusceptible ratsapomorphine-induced gnawing |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ruben W M Van Vugt Francisca eMeyer Josephus A Van Hulten Jeroen eVernooij Alexander R Cools Michel M M Verheij Michel M M Verheij Gerard J M Martens |
spellingShingle |
Ruben W M Van Vugt Francisca eMeyer Josephus A Van Hulten Jeroen eVernooij Alexander R Cools Michel M M Verheij Michel M M Verheij Gerard J M Martens Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience Schizophrenia maternal care Cross-fostering early-postnatal stress apomorphine-susceptible and apomorphine-unsusceptible rats apomorphine-induced gnawing |
author_facet |
Ruben W M Van Vugt Francisca eMeyer Josephus A Van Hulten Jeroen eVernooij Alexander R Cools Michel M M Verheij Michel M M Verheij Gerard J M Martens |
author_sort |
Ruben W M Van Vugt |
title |
Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia |
title_short |
Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia |
title_full |
Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia |
title_fullStr |
Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia |
title_sort |
maternal care affects the phenotype of a rat model for schizophrenia |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
issn |
1662-5153 |
publishDate |
2014-08-01 |
description |
Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder caused by an interplay between genetic and environmental factors, including early postnatal stressors. To explore this issue, we use two rat lines, apomorphine-susceptible (APO-SUS) rats that display schizophrenia-relevant features and their phenotypic counterpart, apomorphine-unsusceptible (APO-UNSUS) rats. These rat lines differ not only in their gnawing response to apomorphine, but also in their behavioral response to novelty (APO-SUS: high, APO-UNSUS: low). In this study, we examined the effects of early postnatal cross-fostering on maternal care and on the phenotypes of the cross-fostered APO-SUS and APO-UNSUS animals later in life. Cross-fostered APO-UNSUS animals showed decreased body weights as pups and decreased novelty-induced locomotor activity as adults (i.e., more extreme behavior), in accordance with the less appropriate maternal care provided by APO-SUS versus their own APO-UNSUS mothers (i.e., the APO-SUS mother displayed less non-arched-back nursing and more self-grooming, and was more away from its nest). In contrast, cross-fostered APO-SUS animals showed increased body weights as pups and reduced apomorphine-induced gnawing later in life (i.e., normalisation of their extreme behavior), in line with the more appropriate maternal care provided by APO-UNSUS relative to their own APO-SUS mothers (i.e., the APO-UNSUS mother displayed more non-arched-back nursing and similar self-grooming, and was not more away). Furthermore, we found that, in addition to arched-back nursing, non-arched-back nursing was an important feature of maternal care, and that cross-fostering APO-SUS mothers, but not cross-fostering APO-UNSUS mothers, displayed increased apomorphine-induced gnawing. Thus, cross-fostering not only causes early postnatal stress shaping the phenotypes of the cross-fostered animals later in life, but also affects the phenotypes of the cross-fostering mothers. |
topic |
Schizophrenia maternal care Cross-fostering early-postnatal stress apomorphine-susceptible and apomorphine-unsusceptible rats apomorphine-induced gnawing |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00268/full |
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