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Maternal high‐salt diet during pregnancy impairs synaptic plasticity and memory in offspring
Author(s) -
Ge Qian,
Hu Xiaoxuan,
Ma Ning,
Sun Meiqi,
Zhang Liyun,
Cai Zhenlu,
Tan Ruolan,
Lu Haixia
Publication year - 2021
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.202001890r
Subject(s) - offspring , pregnancy , synaptic plasticity , metaplasticity , biology , neuroscience , medicine , genetics , receptor
Excess salt intake harms the brain health and cognitive functions, but whether a maternal high‐salt diet (HSD) affects the brain development and neural plasticity of offspring remains unclear. Here, using a range of behavioral tests, we reported that the offspring of maternal HSD subjects exhibited short‐ and long‐term memory deficits, especially in spatial memory in adulthood. Moreover, impairments in synaptic transmission and plasticity in the hippocampus were observed in adult offspring by using in vivo electrophysiology. Consistently, the number of astrocytes but not neurons in the hippocampus of the offspring from the HSD group were significantly decreased, and ERK and AKT signaling pathways involved in neurodevelopment were highly activated only during juvenile. In addition, the expression of synaptic proteins decreased both in juvenile and adulthood, and this effect might be involved in synaptic dysfunction. Collectively, these data demonstrated that the maternal HSD might cause adult offspring synaptic dysfunction and memory loss. It is possibly due to the reduction of astrocytes in juvenile.