engleski

Consequences of neonatal normobaric hypoxia on rat behavior

INTRODUCTION Prenatal hypoxia is one of the main causes of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encelopathy which can result in a wide range of consequences, from mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy to learning difficulties and behavioral disorders. Studies on rat models are necessary for understanding the behavioral outcomes of hypoxic brain injuries of different intensities, and their molecular basis. AIM Our research group is trying to develop a non-invasive model of rat neonatal hypoxia, which corresponds to human prenatal hypoxia. The aim of this study was to determine possible changes in locomotion, learning, anxiety- like, exploratory and social behavior in young rats neonatally exposed to normobaric hypoxia. METHODS On the first postnatal day (PND1), 12 experimental pups were kept under normobaric hypoxic conditions (8% O2), and 12 control pups under normoxic conditions, for 2h. From PND33 to PND45 rats underwent the battery of behavioral tests: open field, hole-board, T-maze and social choice. RESULTS The level of locomotion in an open field, as well as anxiety-like and exploratory behaviors in a hole-board did not differ between the groups. Compared to the control group, the hypoxia-exposed group had a significantly smaller number of correct choices in a T-maze. In addition, males from the experimental group displayed significantly prolonged research time of the conspecific in a social choice test. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that the exposure of neonatal rats to hypoxia reduces the ability of spatial learning and increases the sociability in males.

non-invasive model ; social behavior ; spatial learning ; T-maze

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