Abstract

Environmental enrichment (EE) refers to the exposure of laboratory animals to physical and social stimulation, which can improve animals’ well-being. The study was aimed to explore how the prenatal EE impacts affect the development, behavior, hormones and gene expression of the offspring. 28 pregnant rats were randomized into an EE group (EEG) housed in cages with EE or a control group (CG) housed in normal cages. Measurements included offspring development parameters (body weight, body length, and tail length) and behavior (open-field test, OFT), hormone levels (cortisol, dopamine, 5-HT, and growth hormone) and gene expression profile.Results showed that the development parameters of EEG offspring were statistically superior to the CG offspring. OFT count of EEG offspring was more than CG. EEG and CG offspring did not differ on cortisol, dopamine, 5-HT or growth factor. Gene expression profile chip test showed that 25 genes were up-regulated and 23 genes down-regulated in the EEG vs CG comparison, among which five GO annotations and four KEGG pathways were annotated. Findings indicate that EE during pregnancy could positively promote the body and nervous system development of offspring, involving the evidence for altered gene expression profile.

Key words: Environmental enrichment, rats, gene expression, behavior, development.

Abbreviation

 EE, Environmental Enrichment; CG, control group; EEG,environmental enrichment group; OFT, open-field test.