Age‐related changes in corticosteroid receptor expression and monoamine neurotransmitter concentrations in various brain regions of postnatal pigs

Abstract

Negative early life experience may be associated with altered functioning of stress-related systems and may increase vulnerability to diseases later in life. Corticosteroids are important mediators of homeostasis and stress and exert their effects via two receptors, the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), and through the glucocorticoid-metabolizing enzymes 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) types 1 and 2 in a brain-region-specific manner. However, relatively little is known about the postnatal ontogeny of these receptors and enzymes in the central nervous system. Here we describe, for the first time, the postnatal ontogeny of central GR, MR, 11β-HSD1, and 11β-HSD2 gene expression and monoamine levels in stress-related brain regions of domestic pigs at 7, 21, and 35 days of age. During the postnatal period, there was an increase in GR, MR, and 11β-HSD1 mRNA expression in the pituitary and prefrontal cortex and an increase in MR mRNA expression in the hippocampus. We also demonstrated age-dependent changes in levels of noradrenaline and dopamine and their metabolites in the locus coeruleus, with the highest concentrations on day 7 compared with days 21 and 35. In conclusion, the dynamic changes in corticosteroid receptors and monoamines during neural development of postnatal pigs may represent periods of sensitivity to environmental stress that are comparable to some extent with those that are observed in primates and humans. Thus, these findings support the use of the domestic pig as an alternative animal model for humans in stress research.