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Neonatal factors influence adult stroke outcome

Tara K S Craft1, Ning Zhang, Erica R Glasper

  • 1Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 51 Psychology Building, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. craft.230@osu.edu

Psychoneuroendocrinology
|March 21, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Early life stress, like brief mother-infant separation, improves stress response but increases stroke severity and inflammation in adult mice. This highlights potential long-term risks of early life environmental influences on brain health.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Endocrinology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Neonatal environment significantly impacts lifelong stress reactivity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation.
  • Rodent studies show brief mother-infant separation can enhance HPA axis efficiency and cognitive function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the potential detrimental effects of early life stress on adult cerebrovascular health and stroke outcomes.
  • To determine if improved HPA axis regulation due to neonatal separation confers increased vulnerability to stroke-related damage.

Main Methods:

  • Adult mice, neonatally separated from mothers or controls, underwent experimental stroke induction.
  • Cerebral inflammation, edema, infarct volume, functional recovery, and survival rates were assessed.
  • Adrenalectomy and corticosterone replacement were used to examine the role of the HPA axis.

Main Results:

  • Neonatal separation reduced the initial corticosteroid response to stroke but increased post-stroke inflammation, edema, and infarct size.
  • Separated mice exhibited impaired functional recovery and reduced long-term survival.
  • Adrenalectomy and corticosterone replacement studies indicated heightened sensitivity to corticosterone's detrimental effects during ischemia in neonatally separated adults.

Conclusions:

  • Brief neonatal separation, while enhancing HPA axis regulation, increases adult susceptibility to stroke damage and inflammation.
  • Early life environmental factors profoundly influence adult cerebrovascular health and stroke outcomes.
  • Neonatal environment shapes adult stress responses and vulnerability to neurological injury.

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