Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Neuropharmacology. 2018 Nov 26;146:154–162. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.11.036

Figure 3. The Effect of Maternal Separation Stress on the Developmental Trajectory of the Endocannabinoid Contents in the Hippocampus.

Figure 3.

Tissue content of the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA; upper panel) was found to elevate in the hippocampus in an age-dependent manner, with AEA content being higher at postnatal day (PND) 40 and 70 relative to PND 2, 12 and 14. Exposure to 3 hours of maternal separation (MS) stress per day from PND 2-11 resulted in a main effect of reduced in AEA content in the hippocampus across all age points. 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG; lower panel), the other primary endocannabinoid molecule, was also found to be higher at postnatal day (PND) 40 and 70 relative to PND 2, 12 and 14 in the hippocampus. Exposure to MS stress had age specific effects on 2-AG content in the hippocampus, with 2-AG levels significantly reducing on PND2 after the first exposure to MS, but then elevating on PND12 after the last MS stress, relative to control (CON) animals. These effects had normalized by PND 14, but then again at both PND40 and PND70 tissue levels of 2-AG in the hippocampus were found to be significantly reduced in rats which had been exposed to MS stress relative to CON animals. Data are presented as means +/− SEM. * denotes significant differences (p < .05) between identified CON and MS groups. All n = 7-8 / treatment condition.