Effects of Prenatal Seizures on Cognitive and Motor Performance in Mice Offspring (with Emphasis on BDNF and GDNF Levels)

Abstract

Prenatal seizures in a mother’s organism exert adverse effects on offspring. We investigated the effects of exposure to prenatal seizures in utero on the motor coordination and cognitive performance of mice offspring. Considering that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) play important roles in providing motor and learning abilities, the levels of these factors in serum of the offspring were measured. Adult female ICR mice were randomly separated into two groups and injected i.p. with either pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) or saline for 30 days. Then fully kindled mice and control animals were allowed to mate; PTZ administration was continued until delivery, while the control group received saline at the same time. The motor coordination and cognitive performance shown by male offspring of the groups were evaluated using the raised-beam task and novel object recognition task (NORT), respectively .The serum BDNF and GDNF levels in offspring were measured 24 h after the completion of the behavioral tests. Prenatal exposure to maternal seizures induced by PTZ led to a motor coordination deficiency, significant cognitive impairment, a decrease in the serum BDNF level, and an increase in the GDNF level in adult male offspring (P < 0.05 in all cases). These findings suggest that seizures during mother’s pregnancy cause strong cognitive deficiency and disorders of motor coordination mostly due to alteration of the BDNF and GDNF level in adult male offspring.