Prenatal Stress Enhances Excitatory Synaptic Transmission and Impairs Long-Term Potentiation in the Frontal Cortex of Adult Offspring Rats

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119407
• Publication Date: 2015-03-06T18:59:32Z
• Authors: Joanna Sowa; Bartosz Bobula; Katarzyna Glombik; Joanna Slusarczyk; Agnieszka Basta-Kaim; Grzegorz Hess
• Keywords: Prenatal Stress; Kainate receptor

The effects of prenatal stress procedure were investigated in 3 months old male rats. Prenatally stressed rats showed depressive-like behavior the forced swim test, including increased immobility, decreased mobility and climbing. In ex vivo frontal cortex slices originating from prenatally animals, amplitude extracellular field potentials (FPs) recorded cortical layer II/III was larger, mean ratio pharmacologically-isolated NMDA to AMPA/kainate component potential—smaller than control preparations. Prenatal also resulted a reduced magnitude long-term potentiation (LTP). These accompanied by an increase frequency, but not amplitude, spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) pyramidal neurons. data demonstrate that during pregnancy may lead only behavioral disturbances, impairs glutamatergic transmission synaptic plasticity adult offspring.