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Increased prenatal maternal investment reduces inbreeding depression in offspring.

ABSTRACT: Inbreeding depression refers to the reduction of fitness that results from matings between relatives. Evidence for reduced fitness in inbred individuals is widespread, but the strength of inbreeding depression varies widely both within and among taxa. Environmental conditions can mediate this variation in the strength of inbreeding depression, with environmental stress exacerbating the negative consequences of inbreeding. Parents can modify the environment experienced by offspring, and have thus the potential to mitigate the negative consequences of inbreeding. While such parental effects have recently been demonstrated during the postnatal period, the role of prenatal parental effects in influencing the expression of inbreeding depression remains unexplored. To address this gap, we performed matings between full-sibs or unrelated individuals in replicated lines of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) experimentally selected for high and low maternal egg provisioning. We show that in the low maternal investment lines hatching success was strongly reduced when parents were related. In the high maternal investment lines, however, this negative effect of inbreeding on hatching success was absent, demonstrating that prenatal maternal provisioning can alleviate the negative fitness consequences of inbreeding.

SUBMITTER: Ihle KE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5563818 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Increased prenatal maternal investment reduces inbreeding depression in offspring.

Ihle Kate E KE Hutter Pascale P Tschirren Barbara B

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20170801 1860

Inbreeding depression refers to the reduction of fitness that results from matings between relatives. Evidence for reduced fitness in inbred individuals is widespread, but the strength of inbreeding depression varies widely both within and among taxa. Environmental conditions can mediate this variation in the strength of inbreeding depression, with environmental stress exacerbating the negative consequences of inbreeding. Parents can modify the environment experienced by offspring, and have thus ...[more]

PMID: 28794224

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Project description:Maternal depression is associated with adverse child outcomes including antisocial behaviour (ASB). Prospective longitudinal studies have focused on the timing and cumulative exposure to maternal depression to further delineate the association and mechanisms of effect. The objective of this systematic review was to synthesise and evaluate the findings of longitudinal studies of maternal depression and offspring antisocial behaviour. Three databases were searched (Psychinfo, Web of Science, and Medline). Twenty of 5936 studies met inclusion criteria. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme criteria [Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (2017) CASP (cohort observation checklist). https://casp-uk.net/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/CASP-Cohort-Study-Checklist.pdf ]. Results of individual studies were highly varied, using diverse analytical approaches and not all studies explored the independent effects of different episodes. Only three studies examined hypothesised mechanisms. Prenatal, postnatal, and later episodes of depression were all predictive of antisocial outcomes. One particular time period of depression exposure did not emerge as more predictive of offspring ASB than another. However, measures of maternal depression after the perinatal period were limited and typically included a one-off assessment of mothers' depressive symptoms that was concurrent to the assessment of offspring ASB. When cumulative exposure to maternal depression and specific timing effects were measured within the same study it was cumulative exposure that conferred the greatest risk for offspring ASB-particularly when this exposure began during the perinatal period. Findings are discussed in terms of limitations in the literature and highlight the need for future research to examine the biological and environmental mechanisms that underpin associations between maternal depression and offspring antisocial behaviour during different stages of development.

Project description:The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing worldwide and correlates with dysregulated immune response because of gut microbiota dysbiosis. Some adverse early life events influence the establishment of the gut microbiota and act as risk factors for IBD. Prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) induces gut dysbiosis and perturbs the neuroimmune network of offspring. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether PNMS increases the susceptibility of offspring to colitis in adulthood. The related index was assessed during the weaning period and adulthood. We found that PNMS impaired the intestinal epithelial cell proliferation, goblet cell and Paneth cell differentiation, and mucosal barrier function in 3-week-old offspring. PNMS induced low-grade intestinal inflammation, but no signs of microscopic inflammatory changes were observed. Although there was no pronounced difference between the PNMS and control offspring in terms of their overall measures of alpha diversity for the gut microbiota, distinct microbial community changes characterized by increases in Desulfovibrio, Streptococcus, and Enterococcus and decreases in Bifidobacterium and Blautia were induced in the 3-week-old PNMS offspring. Notably, the overgrowth of Desulfovibrio persisted from the weaning period to adulthood, consistent with the results observed using fluorescence in situ hybridization in the colon mucosa. Mechanistically, the fecal microbiota transplantation experiment showed that the gut microbiota from the PNMS group impaired the intestinal barrier function and induced low-grade inflammation. The fecal bacterial solution from the PNMS group was more potent than that from the control group in inducing inflammation and gut barrier disruption in CaCo-2 cells. After treatment with a TNF-α inhibitor (adalimumab), no statistical difference in the indicators of inflammation and intestinal barrier function was observed between the two groups. Finally, exposure to PNMS remarkably increased the values of the histopathological parameters and the inflammatory cytokine production in a mouse model of experimental colitis in adulthood. These findings suggest that PNMS can inhibit intestinal development, impair the barrier function, and cause gut dysbiosis characterized by the persistent overgrowth of Desulfovibrio in the offspring, resulting in exacerbated experimental colitis in adulthood.

Project description:Background: Fetal exposure to paracetamol (acetaminophen) has been shown to be associated with asthma and other atopic disorders, as well as behavioural problems including hyperactivity, in childhood. However, there is little information on scholastic abilities among children exposed to paracetamol in pregnancy. Objectives: To determine whether there are any differences in scholastic abilities among the offspring of women who ingested paracetamol during pregnancy compared with non-exposed children. Methods: Mothers enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) had recorded the frequency with which they had taken the medication over two time periods during pregnancy: i) the first 18 weeks and ii) 18-32 weeks. The offspring have been followed up ever since. For this study we use as outcomes: a) 14 tests of ability at reading and 2 of spelling using the study's tests and the national education system test results; b) 6 of mathematical abilities including tests of arithmetic and mathematical reasoning, and c) 1 of scientific understanding. Multiple regression was used, adjusting for 15 different exposures including reasons for taking the medication as well as demographic features. Results: Almost all unadjusted and adjusted mean differences were negative (i.e., those exposed to maternal intake of paracetamol did less well), but negative associations for exposures between 18 and 32 weeks of gestation were much more evident than for exposures earlier in pregnancy. Of the later exposures, after adjustment, 12 of the 23 scholastic tests were associated with prenatal exposure to paracetamol at p < 0.05. These negative effects were found in the girls (12 tests at p < 0.05) but not boys (0 tests at p < 0.05). Conclusion: Evidence from this longitudinal study suggests that maternal exposure to paracetamol is associated with disadvantages to the offspring in scholastic abilities such as mathematics and reading at secondary school ages. This raises the question as to whether there are longer-lasting effects on educational attainment from age 15 years onwards, including at university level. Clearly these results should be tested in other settings, but meanwhile they add to a growing accumulation of known adverse effects of exposure to paracetamol in pregnancy.

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Increased prenatal maternal investment reduces inbreeding depression in offspring.

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Increased prenatal maternal investment reduces inbreeding depression in offspring.

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