Host: The Japanese Society of Toxicology
Name : The 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology
Date : June 30, 2022 - July 02, 2022
Stress is one of the environmental factors affecting development. It has been reported to be associated with the risk of developing developmental disorders. The social-defeat stress (SDS), the one type of psychosocial stress, model has been established as an animal model of this stress. In this study, we evaluated developmental stage-dependent abnormalities in spontaneous activity and social interaction in pups (prenatal SDS exposure model mice) of mice exposed to SDS by aggressive mice during developmental stages. Preganant C57BL/6J mice were brought into contact with aggressor male mice between embryonic days 10 and 15 and after that, reared together for 24 hours through a perforated clear acrylic plate. The pups were then analyzed for spontaneous activity, anxiety-like behavior, social interactions, and light/dark rhythms during development and mature stages. In the open field analysis, distance and duration were significantly increased during the developmental stages. Home cage monitoring analysis showed a significant increase in distance during the light period and frequency of contact with another individual during the dark period. In the social interaction test, behavioral characteristics against Stranger mice (mice meeting for the first time) were altered by prenatal SDS exposure. These behavioral abnormalities showed the similar phenotypes with those identified in mouse models of autism. These data indicate that prenatal SDS exposure might induce developmental disorder-like behavioral abnormalities.
