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Maternal androgen excess and obesity induce sexually dimorphic anxiety‐like behavior in the offspring
Author(s) -
Manti Maria,
Fornes Romina,
Qi Xiaojuan,
Folmerz Elin,
Lindén Hirschberg Angelica,
Castro Barbosa Thais,
Maliqueo Manuel,
Benrick Anna,
StenerVictorin Elisabet
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.201701263rr
Subject(s) - offspring , sexual dimorphism , anxiety , androgen , obesity , androgen excess , psychology , medicine , endocrinology , testosterone (patch) , biology , physiology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , pregnancy , genetics , hormone , insulin resistance , polycystic ovary
Maternal polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition associated with hyperandrogenism, is sug‐gested to increase anxiety‐like behavior in the offspring. Because PCOS is closely linked to obesity, we investigated the impact of an adverse hormonal or metabolic maternal environment and offspring obesity on anxiety in the offspring. The obese PCOS phenotype was induced by chronic high‐fat‐high‐sucrose (HFHS) consumption together with prenatal dihydrotestosterone exposure in mouse dams. Anxiety‐like behavior was assessed in adult offspring with the elevated‐plus maze and open‐field tests. The influence of maternal androgens and maternal and offspring diet on genes implicated in anxiety were analyzed in the amygdala and hypothalamus with real‐time PCR ( n = 47). Independent of diet, female offspring exposed to maternal androgens were more anxious and displayed up‐regulation of adrenoceptor a 1B in the amygdala and up‐regulation of hypothalamic corticotropin‐releasing hor‐mone (Crh ). By contrast, male offspring exposed to a HFHS maternal diet had increased anxiety‐like behavior and showed up‐regulation of epigenetic markers in the amygdala and up‐regulation of hypothalamic Crh . Overall, there were substantial sex differences in gene expression in the brain. These findings provide novel insight into how maternal androgens and obesity exert sex‐specific effects on behavior and gene expression in the offspring of a PCOS mouse model.—Manti, M., Fornes, R., Qi, X., Folmerz, E., Lindén Hirschberg A., de Castro Barbosa T., Maliqueo, M., Benrick, A., Stener‐Victorin E. Maternal androgen excess and obesity induce sexually dimorphic anxiety‐like behavior in the offspring. FASEB J . 32, 4158–4171 (2018). www.fasebj.org