Parental life events cause behavioral difference among offspring: Adult pre-gestational restraint stress reduces anxiety across generations.

Nan He,Chuan-Yong Li,Qiao-Qiao Kong,Hong-Jie Yuan,Jing-He Tan,Jun-Zuo Wang,Xiang-Zhong Cui,Yi-Long Miao,Shu-Fen Ning,Shuai Gong

doi:10.1038/srep39497

Abstract

While effects of gestational, neonatal or adolescent stress on psychological alterations in progeny have been extensively studied, much less is known regarding the effects of adult pre-gestational life events on offspring behavior. Although full siblings often display behavioral differences, whether the different parental life events prior to different pregnancies contribute to these behavioral differences among siblings is worth studying. In this study, male and female adult mice were restrained for 60 days before mating with unstressed or stressed partners. F1 offspring were examined for anxiety or mated to generate F2. Both F1 females and males from restrained mothers and/or fathers showed significantly reduced anxiety and serum cortisol and increased mRNA levels of glucocorticoid receptor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor compared to control offspring from unstressed parents. Similar behavioral and molecular changes were also observed in F2 females and males. Although restraint of adolescent mice reduced anxiety in F1 of both sexes, social instability of them increased anxiety predominantly in F1 females. Thus, adult pre-gestational restraint reduced offspring’s anxiety across generations; different stressors on parents may cause different phenotypes in offspring; individual behaviors can depend on adult life experiences of parents.

Highlights

While effects of gestational, neonatal or adolescent stress on psychological alterations in progeny have been extensively studied, much less is known regarding the effects of adult pre-gestational life events on offspring behavior
During elevated plus-maze (EPM), the level of anxiety was quantified by the time spent in the open arm of the maze, and during open field test (OFT), stay time in the central area was the measure for predicted anxiety
When either mother (SC) or father (CS) or both parents (SS) were restrained, anxiety of both female and male offspring was reduced significantly, compared to that of control offspring (CC) from unstressed parents (Fig. 1). Both the time spent in the open arm during EPM and the stay time in the central area during OFT were significantly longer in offspring from the stressed parents than in control offspring

Summary

Introduction

Neonatal or adolescent stress on psychological alterations in progeny have been extensively studied, much less is known regarding the effects of adult pre-gestational life events on offspring behavior. While studies using animal models suggest that gestational[6,7,8,9,10], neonatal[11,12] and adolescent[13,14] stress can cause psychological alterations in the progeny, whether maternal or paternal adult life events prior to pregnancy can evoke behavioral changes in offspring is less well understood[15] In light of their significant implications for evolutionary biology and disease etiology[16,17], research is needed to document the potential for stress-induced psychological modifications to affect future generations of descendants. Epigenetic transgenerational changes in behavior observed in response to gestational stress are difficult to disentangle because both the F1 offspring in utero and their potential F2 germ cells receive exposure

Objectives

Results

Conclusion