Gestational stress induced differential expression of HDAC2 in male rat offspring hippocampus during development

Accumulating evidence from preclinical and clinical studies indicates prenatal exposure to stress or excess glucocorticoids can affect offspring brain. HDAC2 is an important target of glucocorticoid. Here we detected HDAC2 expression in male offspring hippocampus from gestational restraint stressed rat during development and the relationship between HDAC2 expression and behaviors and neurogenesis in male offspring. Pregnant rats received restrained stress during the last week of pregnancy. Expressions of HDAC2 in offspring hippocampus were detected on postnatal 0 day (P0) and 60 days (P60). Neurogenesis was evaluated by Doublecortin (DCX) staining on P60. Anxiety-like behavior and cognition were detected in open field, elevated plus maze, novel object recognition test, and Barnes maze. We found that HDAC2 expression in the hippocampus of male prenatally stressed offspring (MPSO) was similar to the male control offspring on P0, but significantly lower on P60. Corresponding to the decreased expression of HDAC2 in MPSO hippocampus at P60, neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of MPSO was significantly lower than the control male offspring. And MPSO also showed greater anxiety and poorer learning and memories abilities than control male offspring. These showed that HDAC2 could partly explain the effects of gestational stress on male offspring behaviors.