Effects of prenatal stress and exercise on dentate granule cells maturation and spatial memory in adolescent mice

Abstract

Exposure to prenatal stress (PS) increases the risk of developing neurobehavioral disturbances later in life. Previous work has shown that exercise can exert beneficial effects on brain damage; however, it is unknown whether voluntary wheel running (VWR) can ameliorate the neurobehavioral impairments induced by PS in adolescent offspring. Pregnant CF-1 mice were randomly assigned to control ( n = 5) or stressed ( n = 5) groups. Pregnant dams were subjected to restraint stress between gestational days 14 and 21 (G14–21), whereas controls remained undisturbed in their home cages. On postnatal day 21 (P21), male pups were randomly assigned to the following experimental groups: control ( n = 5), stressed ( n = 5), and stressed mice + daily submitted to VWR ( n = 4). At P52, all groups were behaviorally evaluated in the Morris water maze. Animals were then sacrificed, and Golgi-impregnated granule cells were morphometrically analyzed. The results indicate that PS produced significant behavioral and neuronal impairments in adolescent offspring and that VWR significantly offset these deleterious effects.