Browsing by Author "Pluchino, Jenna R."
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Item Effects of limited bedding and nesting on postpartum mood state in rats(Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2023-04-26) Gifford, Janace J.; Pluchino, Jenna R.; Della Valle, Rebecca; Van Weele, Brooke; Brezoczky, Emma; Caulfield, Jasmine I.; Cavigelli, Sonia A.; Schwarz, Jaclyn M.This study examined the effect of limited bedding and nesting (LBN) stress on postpartum anhedonia, maternal behaviors, anxiety-like behaviors, and neuroendocrine and neuroimmune function as a potential model of postpartum depression. Dams underwent sucrose preference tests prior to breeding, during gestation and again postpartum, to examine the potential onset of anhedonia. On embryonic day 19, dams were placed into either a LBN or control housing condition. Contrary to our predictions, LBN stress had no effect on postpartum sucrose preference. We also found no effect of LBN condition on fecal estradiol or corticosterone levels, both of which increased at birth and decreased postpartum. Regardless of housing conditions, approximately 40% of new mothers exhibited a decrease in sucrose preference, while others show no change, suggesting an individual susceptibility to postpartum anhedonia. In a separate cohort of LBN and control dams, we measured pup retrieval, hoarding behavior, elevated plus maze (EPM), and marble burying. LBN dams exhibited increased anxiety, associated with decreased time spent in the open arms of the EPM. We also measured a significant increase in IL-6 expression in the dorsal hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex of postpartum dams compared to nonpregnant dams. These findings suggest that while LBN stress has effects on anxiety and maternal care, it does not induce postpartum anhedonia. Rather, there are inherent differences in susceptibility to anhedonia in individual dams, and future studies should be conducted to better understand individual vulnerability and resilience to postpartum anhedonia.Item Impact of peripartum stress on postpartum maternal behavior and associated endocrine and neurobiological substrates(University of Delaware, 2022) Pluchino, Jenna R.The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of perinatal stress on postpartum maternal behaviors and assess changes in the biological substrates associated with maternal care. We utilized a limited bedding and nesting (LBN) condition to simulate a stressful environment that mimics the stressors a new mother might experience when lacking adequate resources to care for her infant, which is a common risk factor for postpartum depression (Gifford et al., 2021). We measured the frequency of various maternal care behaviors throughout the postpartum period. We collected fecal samples to indirectly measures circulating levels of estradiol and corticosterone. We also collected brain tissues to examine hormone receptor expression in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), a brain structure necessary for maternal behavior. Our results revealed a significant effect of stress, such that LBN dams exhibited significantly decreased arched-back nursing across postnatal days (P)0 - P9 (p< 0.003), with an associated increase in simple blanket nursing across P0-P9 (p < 0.003). We found no differences in the expression of progesterone receptor, estrogen receptor (ER)-ꞵ, or oxytocin receptor in the MPOA on P2 or on P9. We found a main effect of postpartum condition on the expression of ER-ɑ in the MPOA, which was also confirmed by analysis of ER-ɑ immunohistochemistry. Specifically, and interestingly, postpartum females (both control and LBN dams) had decreased expression of ER-ɑ mRNA (p < 0.0001) and protein (p = 0.0049) in the MPOA compared to non-pregnant females. We found no differences in circulating levels of 17-β estradiol throughout the peripartum period, though we did find significant differences in the pattern of corticosterone levels during this time. We conclude that limited bedding and nesting stress decreases important arched-back nursing behavior, with no associated differences in the expression of hormone receptors in the MPOA during this time.