Dataset Information

Prenatal Adversity Alters the Epigenetic Profile of the Prefrontal Cortex: Sexually Dimorphic Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Food-related Stress

ABSTRACT: Prenatal adversity or stress can have long-term consequences on developmental trajec-tories and health outcomes. Although the biological mechanisms underlying these effects are poorly understood, epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, have the potential to link early-life environments to alterations in physiological systems, with long-term functional impli-cations. We investigated the consequences of two prenatal insults, prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and food-related stress, on DNA methylation profiles of the rat brain during early devel-opment. As these insults can have sex-specific effects on biological outcomes, we analyzed epige-nome-wide DNA methylation patterns in prefrontal cortex, a key brain region involved in cogni-tion, executive function, and behavior, of both males and females. We found sex-dependent and sex-concordant influences of these insults on epigenetic patterns. These alterations occurred in genes and pathways related to brain development and immune function, suggesting that PAE and food-related stress may reprogram neurobiological/physiological systems partly through central epigenetic changes, and may do so in a sex-dependent manner. Such epigenetic changes may re-flect the sex-specific effects of prenatal insults on long-term functional and health outcomes and may have important implications for understanding possible mechanisms underlying fetal alco-hol spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus

PROVIDER: GSE186840 | GEO | 2021/11/01

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is associated with alterations in numerous physiological systems, including the stress and immune systems. We have previously shown that PAE increases the course and severity of arthritis in an adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) model. While the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully known, changes in neural gene expression are emerging as important factors in the etiology of PAE effects. As the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HPC) play key roles in neuroimmune function, PAE-induced alterations to their transcriptome may underlie abnormal steady-state functions and responses to immune challenge. The current study examined brains from adult PAE and control females from our recent AA study to determine whether PAE causes long-term alterations in gene expression and whether these mediate the altered severity and course of arthritis in PAE females Methods: Adult females from PAE, pair-fed [PF], and ad libitum-fed control [C]) groups were injected with either saline or complete FreundM-bM-^@M-^Ys adjuvant. Animals were terminated at the peak of inflammation or during resolution (days 16 and 39 post-injection, respectively); cohorts of saline-injected PAE, PF and C females were terminated in parallel. Gene expression was analyzed in the PFC and HPC using whole genome mRNA expression microarrays. Results: Significant changes in gene expression in both the PFC and HPC were found in PAE compared to controls in response to ethanol exposure alone (saline-injected females), including genes involved in neurodevelopment, apoptosis, and energy metabolism. Moreover, in response to inflammation (adjuvant-injected females), PAE animals showed unique expression patterns, while failing to exhibit the activation of genes and regulators involved in the immune response observed in control and pair-fed animals. Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that PAE affects neuroimmune function at the level of gene expression, demonstrating long-term effects of PAE on the CNS response under steady-state conditions and following an inflammatory insult. Key words: prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), ethanol, inflammation, arthritis, gene expression, rat. 192 samples, including 20 hybridization replicates

Project description:Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is associated with alterations in numerous physiological systems, including the stress and immune systems. We have previously shown that PAE increases the course and severity of arthritis in an adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) model. While the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully known, changes in neural gene expression are emerging as important factors in the etiology of PAE effects. As the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HPC) play key roles in neuroimmune function, PAE-induced alterations to their transcriptome may underlie abnormal steady-state functions and responses to immune challenge. The current study examined brains from adult PAE and control females from our recent AA study to determine whether PAE causes long-term alterations in gene expression and whether these mediate the altered severity and course of arthritis in PAE females Methods: Adult females from PAE, pair-fed [PF], and ad libitum-fed control [C]) groups were injected with either saline or complete Freund’s adjuvant. Animals were terminated at the peak of inflammation or during resolution (days 16 and 39 post-injection, respectively); cohorts of saline-injected PAE, PF and C females were terminated in parallel. Gene expression was analyzed in the PFC and HPC using whole genome mRNA expression microarrays. Results: Significant changes in gene expression in both the PFC and HPC were found in PAE compared to controls in response to ethanol exposure alone (saline-injected females), including genes involved in neurodevelopment, apoptosis, and energy metabolism. Moreover, in response to inflammation (adjuvant-injected females), PAE animals showed unique expression patterns, while failing to exhibit the activation of genes and regulators involved in the immune response observed in control and pair-fed animals. Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that PAE affects neuroimmune function at the level of gene expression, demonstrating long-term effects of PAE on the CNS response under steady-state conditions and following an inflammatory insult. Key words: prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), ethanol, inflammation, arthritis, gene expression, rat.

Project description:Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) alters the development of neurobiological systems, leading to lasting neuroendocrine, neuroimmune, and neurobehavioral deficits. Although the etiology of this reprogramming remains unknown, emerging evidence suggests DNA methylation as a potential mediator and biomarker for the effects of PAE due to its responsiveness to environmental cues and relative stability over time. Here, we utilized a rat model of PAE to examine the DNA methylation profiles of rat hypothalami and leukocytes at four time points during early development to assess the genome-wide impact of PAE on the epigenome and identify potential biomarkers of PAE. Our model of PAE approximates to 1-2x the legal limit of drunk driving in most jurisdictions (blood alcohol 80-150 mg/dl) throughout the equivalent of the first two trimesters of human pregnancy. Hypothalami were analyzed on postnatal (P) days 1, 8, 15, 22 and leukocytes at P22 to compare central and peripheral markers. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis was performed by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation followed by next-generation sequencing. PAE resulted in lasting changes to DNA methylation profiles across all four ages, with 118 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) displaying persistent alterations across the developmental profile at a false-discovery rate (FDR) <0.05. By contrast, 299 DMRs showed the same direction of change in the hypothalamus and leukocytes of P22 pups at an FDR<0.05, with some genes overlapping with the developmental profile findings. The majority of these DMRs were located in intergenic regions, which contained several computationally-predicted transcription factor binding sites. Differentially methylated genes were generally involved in immune function, epigenetic remodeling, metabolism, and hormonal signaling, as determined by gene ontology analyses. Persistent DNA methylation changes in the hypothalamus may be associated with the long-term deficits observed in PAE. Furthermore, correlations between epigenetic alterations in peripheral tissues and those in the brain will provide a foundation for the development of biomarkers of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Finally, findings from studies of PAE provide important insight into the etiology neurodevelopmental and mental health disorders, as they tend to share numerous symptoms and comorbidities.

Project description:Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is linked to elevated risk for systemic adult-onset diseases like hypertension, impaired glucose and immune regulation, and in animal models, to impaired recovery from acute onset diseases like cerebrovascular ischemic stroke. Recent evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal system rapidly becomes dysbiotic following cerebrovascular stroke, resulting in systemic inflammation. We hypothesized that a history of PAE would modify the systemic effects of stroke, and transduce exposure-dependent transcriptomic changes in downstream sentinel tissues of the enteric portal circulation that have previously been linked to biobehavioral outcomes in rodent PAE models. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to repeated episodes of vaporized ethanol or room air from gestational day 8 to 19. At 5 months, progeny from each treatment condition were subjected to unilateral endothelin-1 induced occlusion of the middle cerebral artery and outcomes evaluated after 2 days while other progeny stayed stroke-naïve. Stroke induced disabilities were assessed by behavioral assays (adhesive removal, Vibrissae evoked fore-limb placement, circling) and infarct size. The mesenteric adipose tissue and liver transcriptomes were assessed by sequencing, from age-matched stroke-exposed and stroke-naïve offspring. In stroke-naïve animals, pathway analysis identified rRNA processing as downregulated and citric acid cycle as upregulated in mesenteric adipose. Weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) identified, in the liver of stoke-naïve animals, a moderate but significant correlation between PAE status and necroptosis, a proinflammatory form of programmed cell death (Pearson’s r=0.554, p<0.05). Two days after a stroke, PAE rats exhibited worse neurological scores compared to controls (p<0.05). WGCNA after stroke identified an adipose gene network associated with B cell differentiation and NF-kappa B signaling as moderately correlated with post-stroke neurological function (Pearson's r=0.52, p=0.05). Post-stroke WGCNA also identified a liver proinflammatory gene network strongly correlated with post-stroke neurological function (Pearson's r=-0.63, p<0.01). PAE persistently alters the transcriptome of afferent tissue targets of enteric circulation in adult rat offspring. Moreover, PAE-linked enteric inflammation is correlated to worse outcomes following cerebrovascular ischemic stroke in adulthood. Enteric disturbances may mediate adverse brain health outcomes due to PAE in adulthood.

Dataset Information

Prenatal Adversity Alters the Epigenetic Profile of the Prefrontal Cortex: Sexually Dimorphic Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Food-related Stress

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets