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Effects of early weaning on anxiety and prefrontal cortical and hippocampal myelination in male and female wistar rats
Author(s) -
Kodama Yuka,
Kikusui Takefumi,
Takeuchi Yukari,
Mori Yuji
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.20289
Subject(s) - prefrontal cortex , weaning , hippocampus , myelin basic protein , hippocampal formation , medicine , psychology , endocrinology , elevated plus maze , anxiety , myelin , physiology , neuroscience , central nervous system , biology , cognition , psychiatry
We investigated developmental changes in myelin formation in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, and behavioral effects of early weaning in Wistar rats. Early‐weaned rats showed decreased numbers of open‐arm entries in an elevated plus‐maze in both sexes at 4 weeks old; this effect persisted in males, but ceased in females after this age. Expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) showed both age‐dependent increases and sex differences; 4‐week‐old males exhibited higher MBP levels in the hippocampus, whereas 7‐week‐old males showed lower MBP levels in the prefrontal cortex compared to females of the same age. There was a tendency for group differences from weaning for the 21.5‐kDa isoform in the prefrontal cortex. Although these results suggest that male rats are more vulnerable than females to early‐weaning effects on anxiety‐related behaviors, further detailed analysis is needed to clarify the functional relationship between myelination and anxiety‐related behaviors. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 332–342, 2008.