Prenatal stress has pro-inflammatory consequences on the immune system in adult rats
Résumé
The in utero environment is critical for initiating the ontogeny of several physiological systems, including the immune surveillance. Yet, little is known about adverse early experiences on the offspring's immunity and vulnerability to disease. The present work aimed at investigating the impact of restraint prenatal stress (PS) on the development and responsiveness of in vitro and in vivo cellular and humoral immunity of male progeny aged 7 weeks and 6 months. In adult 6-month-old rats, we detected increased circulating CD8(+)-expressing and NK cells in PS rats as compared to controls, associated with higher mRNA expression of IFN-gamma. In addition, in vitro stimulation with phytohemagglutinin-A induced an increase in both the proliferation of T lymphocytes and the secretion of IFN-gamma in PS rats. Interestingly, these alterations were undetectable in younger PS rats (7-week old), except for a slight increase in the mRNA expression of several pro-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Moreover, in vivo neutralization of IFN-gamma in young rats had no effects in PS group. In conclusion, we report for the first time long-lasting pro-inflammatory consequences of PS in rats.
Mots clés
Animals
Cell Separation
Cytokines
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Female
Flow Cytometry
Immune System
Immunocompetence
Immunoglobulins
Inflammation
Interferon-gamma
Neutrophils
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Restraint, Physical
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Stress, Psychological