Efectos de la administración de un inhibidor de la recaptación de serotonina, Sertralina, sobre los cambios inducidos por el estrés prenatal

Abstract

The present study attempted to evaluate the role of prenatal stress affecting the development of the brain systems that can alter the threshold of vulnerability to subsequent stressors and it reversion by Sertraline, a front-line medication for depression and PTSD in humans. To achieve this, adult male and female offspring rats prenatally stressed (PS) or unstressed (Controls) were studied, using behavioral tests, after being treated or not with Sertraline (from 1 month to 4 months old). Anxiety-like behaviors were taken, using the open field test and the startle reflex test in all animals. Subsequently, the animals were subjected to inescapable footshocks (IS) in a shuttle box that was followed by situational reminders in the aversive context. Finally, the physiological response to re-stress was compared with a group of undisturbed controls. From the experiments we made, we can conclude that stress by restriction applied to pregnant rats during the last week of pregnancy produces physiological and behavioral changes in rodents that persist with age. It affected differently males than females, affecting growth in females specifically and changing their long-term habituation of the auditory startle response; prenatally stressed females also exhibited lower ACTH levels in response to re-stress; moreover, the males displayed extinction issues. When compared to controls, prenatally stressed animals of both sexes exhibited less activity, in the aversive environment; PS also caused leukopenia in animals of both sexes and heightened the response to inescapable shocks, which reversed with the chronic administration of sertraline. The administration of Sertraline did not alter emotionality or the anxiety shown in behavioral tests, but it reversed many of the deleterious effects caused by stress, being more effective in females than in males. PS significantly increased the susceptibility of the animals to undergo behavioral and physiological changes when faced to stressful situations. As conclusion, current results show that PS animals exhibit clear signs of disturbance when faced with new challenges and Sertraline acts differently in males and females.