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Paternal social enrichment effects on maternal behavior and offspring growth.

ABSTRACT: Paternal environmental experiences are significant predictors of developmental outcomes in offspring and can occur even in the absence of paternal care. Although there has been a recent focus on the role of environmentally induced changes in the male germline in producing these effects, the potential mediating role of mothers has not been investigated. A role for mothers in the transmission of paternal effects has been well acknowledged in behavioral ecology, which predicts that females will dynamically adjust their reproductive investment in response to the qualities of their mate. In the present study, we show that a lifetime of socially enriched compared with impoverished housing conditions shifts anxiety-like behavior and gene expression of male mice. Females that mate with enriched-reared males exhibit increased levels of pup nursing and licking toward their offspring, which are associated with changes in gene expression within the maternal hypothalamus. Significantly, these changes in maternal behavior are correlated with the general levels of anxiety exhibited by their male mates. Further, we show that paternal environmental enrichment results in increased growth of their offspring. These results suggest that maternal-paternal interactions at mating may guide offspring development, with significant implications for the transgenerational transmission of paternal environmental experiences.

SUBMITTER: Mashoodh R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3477388 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Paternal social enrichment effects on maternal behavior and offspring growth.

Mashoodh Rahia R Franks Becca B Curley James P JP Champagne Frances A FA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20121008

Paternal environmental experiences are significant predictors of developmental outcomes in offspring and can occur even in the absence of paternal care. Although there has been a recent focus on the role of environmentally induced changes in the male germline in producing these effects, the potential mediating role of mothers has not been investigated. A role for mothers in the transmission of paternal effects has been well acknowledged in behavioral ecology, which predicts that females will dyn ...[more]

PMID: 23045657

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Project description:Recent studies support the hypothesis that the adverse effects of early-life adversity and transgenerational stress on neural plasticity and behavior are mediated by inflammation. The objective of the present study was to investigate the immune and behavioral programing effects of intranasal (IN) vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OXT) treatment of chronic social stress (CSS)-exposed F1 dams on F2 juvenile female offspring. It was hypothesized that maternal AVP and OXT treatment would have preventative effects on social stress-induced deficits in offspring anxiety and social behavior and that these effects would be associated with changes in interferon-? (IFN?). Control and CSS-exposed F1 dams were administered IN saline, AVP, or OXT during lactation and the F2 juvenile female offspring were assessed for basal plasma IFN? and perseverative, anxiety, and social behavior. CSS F2 female juvenile offspring had elevated IFN? levels and exhibited increased repetitive/perseverative and anxiety behaviors and deficits in social behavior. These effects were modulated by AVP and OXT in a context- and behavior-dependent manner, with OXT exhibiting preventative effects on repetitive and anxiety behaviors and AVP possessing preventative effects on social behavior deficits and anxiety. Basal IFN? levels were elevated in the F2 offspring of OXT-treated F1 dams, but IFN? was not correlated with the behavioral effects. These results support the hypothesis that maternal AVP and OXT treatment have context- and behavior-specific effects on peripheral IFN? levels and perseverative, anxiety, and social behaviors in the female offspring of early-life social stress-exposed dams. Both maternal AVP and OXT are effective at preventing social stress-induced increases in self-directed measures of anxiety, and AVP is particularly effective at preventing impairments in overall social contact. OXT is specifically effective at preventing repetitive/perseverative behaviors, yet is ineffective at preventing deficits in overall social behavior.

Dataset Information

Paternal social enrichment effects on maternal behavior and offspring growth.

Publications

Paternal social enrichment effects on maternal behavior and offspring growth.

Similar Datasets

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