Oxidative Modification of Proteins in Brain Structures in Sprague–Dawley Rats and Some Behavioral Parameters after Prenatal Stress

Abstract

The effects of late prenatal stress on free-radical oxidation of proteins in Sprague–Dawley rats were studied in the cerebral cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, along with changes in behavior in test systems involving different levels of stress induction. The results of these experiments showed that the level of spontaneous oxidation in the hypothalamus of rats aged 100 days was increased, while induced oxidation was decreased relative to the control group; the opposite effects were seen in the hippocampus. The cerebral cortex and striatum showed minor changes in study parameters. In the stress-inducing open field behavioral test, prenatally stressed animals aged 100 days showed reduced motor activity and increased freezing and grooming times. Conversely, motor activity in the T maze and grooming time in prenatally stressed animals increased compared with controls, while freezing decreased. It is suggested that the improvements in behavioral measures in the T maze in prenatally stressed animals are associated with persistence of oxidative modification processes in the cortex and some improvement in measures in the hippocampus. Adverse changes in protein oxidation processes, particularly in the hippocampus, were reflected in the responses of prenatally stressed animals to the stress-inducing conditions of the open field test.