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Studies on noradrenergic alterations in relation to early phenobarbital‐induced behavioral changes
Author(s) -
Yanai Joseph,
Pick Chaim G.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/0736-5748(87)90009-8
Subject(s) - offspring , locus coeruleus , hippocampal formation , phenobarbital , endocrinology , medicine , hippocampus , biology , pregnancy , central nervous system , genetics
Mice were exposed to phenobarbital prenatally (B offspring) by feeding their mother 3 g/kg phenobarbital in milled food on gestation days 9–18; control dams received unadulterated milled food. At age 50 days, B offspring had fewer fluorescing noradrenergic (NE) cells in the locus coeruleus than control ( P < 0.001). Hippocampal NE levels were also lower in B than in control offspring, while the cerebellar NE levels of B offspring remained normal. Since B offspring are known to be deficient in their hippocampal eight‐arm maze behavior, an attempt was made to reverse the behavioral deficit by transplantation of normal embryonic locus coeruleus NE cells into the impaired hippocampus of B offspring. While sham and NE‐transplanted controls needed approximately 2 days to reach criterion in the maze, sham‐transplanted B required approximately 5 days to reach criterion ( P < 0.01). The scores of NE‐transplanted B mice were similar to B and differed significantly from control ( P < 0.01). Thus, it appears that the hippocampal behavioral deficits studied may not be related to alterations in locus coeruleus‐hippocampal NE innervations.