Effects of combined brief etomidate anesthesia and postnatal stress on amygdala expression of Cl− cotransporters and corticotropin-releasing hormone and alcohol intake in adult rats

Publication date: 15 October 2018Source: Neuroscience Letters, Volume 685Author(s): Jiaojiao Yang, Lingsha Ju, Chunyao Yang, Jinhu Xue, Barry Setlow, Timothy E. Morey, Nikolaus Gravenstein, Christoph N. Seubert, Terrie Vasilopoulos, Anatoly E. MartynyukAbstractEarly life stressors, including general anesthesia, can have adverse effects on adult neural and behavioral outcomes, such as disruptions in inhibitory signaling, stress responsivity and increased risk of psychiatric disorders. Here we used a rat model to determine the effects of combined exposure to etomidate (ET) neonatal anesthesia and maternal separation on adult amygdala expression of genes for corticotropin-releasing hormone (Crh) and the chloride co-transporters Nkcc1 and Kcc2, as well as ethanol intake. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 2 h of ET anesthesia on postnatal days (P) 4, 5, or 6 followed by maternal separation for 3 h on P10 (ET + SEP). During the P91-P120 period rats had daily 2 h access to three 0.05% saccharin solutions containing 0%, 5%, or 10% ethanol, followed by gene expression analyses. The ET + SEP group had increased Crh mRNA levels and Nkcc1/Kcc2 mRNA ratios in the amygdala, with greater increases in Nkcc1/Kcc2 mRNA ratios in males. A moderate increase in 5% ethanol intake was evident in the ET + SEP males, but not females, after calculation of the ratio of alcohol intake between the last week and first week of exposure. In contrast, control males tende...
Source: Neuroscience Letters - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research