Biomaterial Database

Environmental enrichment alters neurobehavioral development following maternal immune activation in mice offspring with epilepsy. 2021

Maryam Zeraati, and Nazila Najdi, and Belal Mosaferi, and Ali-Akbar Salari

Physiology and Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Alborz, Iran.

Epilepsy is a chronic brain disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Anxiety-related disorders and cognitive deficits are common in patients with epilepsy. Previous studies have shown that maternal infection/immune activation renders children more vulnerable to neurological disorders later in life. Environmental enrichment has been suggested to improve seizures, anxiety, and cognitive impairment in animal models. The present study aimed to explore the effects of environmental enrichment on seizure scores, anxiety-like behavior, and cognitive deficits following maternal immune activation in offspring with epilepsy. Pregnant mice were treated with lipopolysaccharides-(LPS) or vehicle, and offspring were housed in normal or enriched environments during early adolescence to adulthood. To induce epilepsy, adult male and female offspring were treated with Pentylenetetrazol-(PTZ), and then anxiety-like behavior and cognitive functions were assessed. Tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL) 10 were measured in the hippocampus of offspring. Maternal immune activation sex-dependently increased seizure scores in PTZ-treated offspring. Significant increases in anxiety-like behavior, cognitive impairment, and hippocampal TNF-α and IL-10 were also found following maternal immune activation in PTZ-treated offspring. However, there was no sex difference in these behavioral abnormalities in offspring. Environmental enrichment reversed the effects of maternal immune activation on behavioral and inflammatory parameters in PTZ-treated offspring. Overall, the present findings highlight the adverse effects of prenatal maternal immune activation on seizure susceptibility and psychiatric comorbidities in offspring. This study suggests that environmental enrichment may be used as a potential treatment approach for behavioral abnormalities following maternal immune activation in PTZ-treated offspring.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010433	Pentylenetetrazole	A pharmaceutical agent that displays activity as a central nervous system and respiratory stimulant. It is considered a non-competitive GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID antagonist. Pentylenetetrazole has been used experimentally to study seizure phenomenon and to identify pharmaceuticals that may control seizure susceptibility.	Leptazole,Pentamethylenetetrazole,Pentetrazole,Cardiazol,Corasol,Corazol,Corazole,Korazol,Korazole,Metrazol,Metrazole,Pentazol,Pentylenetetrazol
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011251	Pregnancy Complications, Infectious	The co-occurrence of pregnancy and an INFECTION. The infection may precede or follow FERTILIZATION.	Complications, Infectious Pregnancy,Infectious Pregnancy Complications,Maternal Sepsis,Pregnancy, Infectious Complications,Sepsis during Pregnancy,Sepsis in Pregnancy,Infectious Pregnancy Complication,Pregnancy Complication, Infectious,Sepsis in Pregnancies,Sepsis, Maternal
D011297	Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects	The consequences of exposing the FETUS in utero to certain factors, such as NUTRITION PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA; PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS; DRUGS; RADIATION; and other physical or chemical factors. These consequences are observed later in the offspring after BIRTH.	Delayed Effects, Prenatal Exposure,Late Effects, Prenatal Exposure
D003292	Convulsants	Substances that act in the brain stem or spinal cord to produce tonic or clonic convulsions, often by removing normal inhibitory tone. They were formerly used to stimulate respiration or as antidotes to barbiturate overdose. They are now most commonly used as experimental tools.	Convulsant,Convulsant Effect,Convulsant Effects,Effect, Convulsant,Effects, Convulsant
D004195	Disease Models, Animal	Naturally-occurring or experimentally-induced animal diseases with pathological processes analogous to human diseases.	Animal Disease Model,Animal Disease Models,Disease Model, Animal
D004198	Disease Susceptibility	A constitution or condition of the body which makes the tissues react in special ways to certain extrinsic stimuli and thus tends to make the individual more than usually susceptible to certain diseases.	Diathesis,Susceptibility, Disease,Diatheses,Disease Susceptibilities,Susceptibilities, Disease
D004777	Environment	The external elements and conditions which surround, influence, and affect the life and development of an organism or population.	Environmental Impact,Environmental Impacts,Impact, Environmental,Impacts, Environmental,Environments
D004827	Epilepsy	A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge. Epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g., frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the brain, and (5) temporal patterns (e.g., nocturnal epilepsy). (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p313)	Aura,Awakening Epilepsy,Seizure Disorder,Epilepsy, Cryptogenic,Auras,Cryptogenic Epilepsies,Cryptogenic Epilepsy,Epilepsies,Epilepsies, Cryptogenic,Epilepsy, Awakening,Seizure Disorders
D005260	Female		Females