Cellular count changes in different rat brain areas due to early maternal separation

Abstract

Objective: to identify whether maternal separation during breastfeeding (MSDB) affects the cellular count in different rat brain areas. The continuous mother-child interaction, adjusts and modulates the offspring behavioral response to environmental stimuli and also affects their development and homeostasis. Morphological and physiological changes in the offspring brains have been observed, including cell count differences in different brain areas with differences between males and females. Materials and methods: this study compared albino Wistar rats in a protocol of MSDB with a control group. Brain tissue was fixed with paraformaldehyde, cut in cryostat and either stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) or processed for immunohistochemistry against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). All sections were analyzed using a cell count protocol including statistical analysis with Students T test at a significance level of P ≤0.05. Results: the MSDB group of male subjects presented higher GFAP-marked cell count in primary motor cortex and hippocampus; while female subjects, showed less GFAP-marked cell count in these same areas. Conclusions: MSDB produces sex-specific changes in the number of glial cells especially in the primary motor cortex, this finding may be considered as associated factor of alterations in motor responses to stress in these subjects, in addition to other known causes such as the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis dysfunction.