In addition, potential stress and anxiety of the dams were assessed using behavioral, molecular and hormonal measures.

Results: Both the quantity and the quality of dams’ care of their pups were profoundly influenced by restriction of nesting materials in their cages: licking/grooming activities decreased and the frequency

of leaving the pups increased, resulting in fragmented interactions between the dams and pups. The abnormal activity patterns of the dams were accompanied by increased anxiety-like behavior in the open field, but not in the elevated plus maze tests. Additionally, dams’ plasma corticosterone levels AZD3965 ic50 and adrenal weights were augmented, suggesting chronic stress of these dams. By the end of the limited-nesting, stress-inducing period, hypothalamic corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression was reduced in the limited-nesting dams, while arginine-vasopressin (AVP) mRNA levels were not significantly affected.

Conclusion: Limiting dams’ ability to construct a nest for their pups leads to an abnormal repertoire of nurturing behaviors, possibly as a result of chronic stress and mild anxiety

of the dams. Because the fragmented and aberrant maternal behavior provoked chronic stress in the pups, the limited-nesting paradigm provides a useful tool for studying the mechanisms and consequences of such early-life stress experience in the offspring. (c) 2008 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“While the onset and extent of epilepsy increases in the aged population, the reasons Ganetespib for this increased incidence remain learn more unexplored. The present study used two inbred strains of mice (C57BL/6J

and FVB/NJ) to address the genetic control of age-dependent neurodegeneration by building upon previous experiments that have identified phenotypic differences in susceptibility to hippocampal seizure-induced cell death. We determined if seizure induction and seizure-induced cell death are affected differentially in young adult, mature, and aged male C57BL/6J and FVB/NJ mice administered the excitotoxin, kainic acid. Dose response testing was performed in three to four groups of male mice from each strain. Following kainate injections, mice were scored for seizure activity and brains from mice in each age group were processed for light microscopic histopathologic evaluation 7 days following kainate administration to evaluate the severity of seizure-induced brain damage. Irrespective of the dose of kainate administered or the age group examined, resistant strains of mice (C57BL/6J) continued to be resistant to seizure-induced cell death. In contrast, aged animals of the FVB/NJ strain were more vulnerable to the induction of behavioral seizures and associated neuropathology after systemic injection of kainic acid than young or middle-aged mice.