Methimazole‐induced gestational hypothyroidism affects the offspring development and differently impairs the conditioned fear in male and female adulthood rodents
- 22 December 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
- Vol. 83 (1), 108-120
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jdn.10243
Abstract
Gestational hypothyroidism is a prevalent disorder in pregnant women and also impairs fetal development with relevant outcomes. One of the outcomes of greatest interest has been rodent fear- and anxiety-like behavior. However, the relationship between maternal hypothyroidism and onset of conditioned fear-related responses in offspring remains controversial. Here, we used a well-validated methimazole-induced gestational hypothyroidism to investigate the behavioral consequences in offspring. Dams were treated with methimazole at 0.02% in drinking water up to gestational Day 9. Maternal body weights and maternal behavior were evaluated, and the puppies ware analyzed for weight gain and physical/behavioral development and assigned for the open field and fear conditioning test. Methimazole-induced gestational hypothyroidism induced loss in maternal and litter weight, increases in maternal behavior, and impairs in offspring developmental landmarks in both male and female rodents. Only male offspring enhanced responsiveness to conditioned fear-like behavior in adulthood.Keywords
Funding Information
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (#03346‐18)
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (#429035/2018‐7)
This publication has 74 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Link between Thyroid Function and DepressionJournal of Thyroid Research, 2011
- Adult-Onset Hypothyroidism Enhances Fear Memory and Upregulates Mineralocorticoid and Glucocorticoid Receptors in the AmygdalaPLOS ONE, 2011
- Developmental thyroid hormone insufficiency reduces expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in adults but not in neonatesNeurotoxicology and Teratology, 2011
- Effect of selenium on hypothyroidism induced by methimazole (MMI) in lactating rats and their pupsActa Biologica Hungarica, 2010
- No stress please! Mechanisms of stress hyporesponsiveness of the maternal brainJournal Of Physiology-London, 2008
- The Expression of Contextual Fear Conditioning Involves Activation of an NMDA Receptor-Nitric Oxide Pathway in the Medial Prefrontal CortexCerebral Cortex, 2007
- Iodine deficiency and brain development in the first half of pregnancyPublic Health Nutrition, 2007
- Perinatal hypothyroidism effects on neuromotor competence, novelty-directed exploratory and anxiety-related behaviour and learning in ratsBehavioural Brain Research, 2003
- Early effects of iodine deficiency on radial glial cells of the hippocampus of the rat fetus. A model of neurological cretinism.JCI Insight, 1997
- Prevalence of thyroid deficiency in pregnant womenClinical Endocrinology, 1991