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Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Quantification of Social Behavior in Adult Rats
Published on: December 14, 2014
Perinatal maternal exposure to picrotoxin: effects on sexual behavior in female rat offspring
E Teodorov1, A P Moraes, L F Felicio
1Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, CEP:05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract:
A previous study in our laboratory showed that perinatal maternal picrotoxin exposure (0.75 mg/kg) in rats improved heterosexual behavior in male offspring. In the present study, we examined the effects of this maternal treatment on sexual behavior in the female offspring. The dams received 0.75 mg/kg picrotoxin treatment (PT) once a day on the 18th and 21st day of pregnancy, 2 h after parturition and once a day during the first 4 days of lactation. The results showed that (1) at birth, the body weight and anogenital distance were not modified by treatment; (2) female sexual behavior was improved in experimental animals. These results demonstrate that perinatal picrotoxin exposure improves adult sexual behavior in female rat offspring as suggested by increase in the lordosis quotient.
