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Brain Structural Networks in Mouse Exposed to Chronic Maternal Undernutrition.
Jimena Barbeito-Andrés1, Pablo M Gleiser2, Valeria Bernal3
1ENyS - Unidad Ejecutora de Estudios en Neurociencias y Sistemas Complejos (UNAJ-CONICET-HNK), Av. Calchaquí 5402, Florencio Varela (1888), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Grupo de Física Estadística e Interdisciplinaria (FiEstIn), Centro Atómico Bariloche, Av. Bustillo 9500, San Carlos de Bariloche (8400), Río Negro, Argentina.
Neuroscience
|April 10, 2018
Summary
Maternal nutritional restriction during pregnancy impacts offspring brain connectivity, reducing short tracts and altering the rich-club network. These changes suggest long-term structural alterations due to early life nutritional stress.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Intrauterine growth restriction and premature birth are linked to altered brain structural connectivity.
- The specific impact of maternal nutritional restriction on brain development remains under-assessed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the long-term effects of maternal undernutrition during pregnancy and lactation on offspring brain structural connectivity.
- To analyze how different levels of nutritional restriction affect brain network parameters.
Main Methods:
- Established three experimental groups of female mice: control, moderate calorie-protein restriction (MCP), and severe protein restriction (SP).
- Assessed offspring growth and performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on their brains post-weaning.
- Analyzed brain connectivity patterns using complex graph theory and network parameters.
Main Results:
- Maternal undernutrition led to global growth restriction in offspring.
- Brain structures were not uniformly affected; central regions and long tracts were preserved, while short tracts were reduced.
- Network parameters like degree and clustering remained unchanged, but the rich-club index decreased in nutritionally restricted animals, indicating impaired hub connectivity.
Conclusions:
- Chronic nutritional stress during development causes long-term changes in brain structural connectivity.
- The findings highlight a specific impairment in the brain's hub structure (rich-club) following early life nutritional deficits.
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