Table 3.
Summary of the main molecular, cellular and behavioral alterations reported after peripubertal stress exposure in rodents.
| Stressor | Stress Protocol | Molecular/Cellular | Behavior | References | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment | Age | Assessment | Age | |||
| Post-weaning social isolation stress model (PWSI) | Individual cages from P21 to P82 | ↓ BDNF expression (amygdala) | P82 | pathological aggression, ↓ social communication |
P82 | [9,94] |
| Individual cages from P28 to P109 | ↑ BLA pyramidal cell excitability | P101–P115 | ↑ anxiety | P101–P115 | [95] | |
| Individual cages from P21 to P90 | ↑ GAD67 protein (CeM, MeA, BLA) | P90 | [96] | |||
| Individual cages from P21 to P90 | ↑ BLA, BMA, Ce volume ↑ number of PV+ interneurons (BLA, BMA) ↓ PSA-NCAM protein (amygdala) ↓ VGLUT1/VGAT (LA, BLA) ↑ mRNA CB1-R (amygdala) |
P90 | ↑ anxiety | P90 | [97] | |
| Unpredictable stress | fear-inducing stressors: open field, fox-odor, elevated platform (P28–P30, P34, P36, P40, P42) | ↑ mRNA NR1 (amygdala) ↓ mRNA GAD67 (amygdala) ↑ VGLUT1/VGAT (CeA) ↑ mRNA encoding GR and ↓ number of GR + cells (CeA) ↓ GAD and GABA-A receptor α3 (LA, BLA, BMA, MeA, CeA) |
P90 | ↓ sociability, ↑ anxiety, ↑ novelty reactivity, pathological aggression |
P90 | [83,98,99,100,101] |
| Repeated restraint stress | 20 min/day from P29 to P37 | ↓ GABAergic inhibition of LA projection neurons ↓ presynaptic GABA function and interneuron activity (LA) |
P39 | ↑ anxiety | P38 | [102] |
| 2 h/day restraint session + 40 tail shocks /day (from P22 to P24) | ↓ serotoninergic modulation of GABAergic transmission (BLA), amygdala hyperexcitability | P24–P25 | [103] | |||
Symbols and abbreviations: ↑ (increase), ↓ (decrease), P (postnatal day), BLA (basolateral nuclei of the amygdala), BMA (basomedial nucleus of the amygdala), LA (lateral nuclei of the amygdala), MeA (medial nucleus of the amygdala), CeA (central nucleus of the amygdala), CB1-R (cannabinoid receptor 1), Bdnf (brain derived neurotrophic factor, gene), BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor, protein), GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase), GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid), GABA-A (GABA type A receptor), NR1 (subunit 1 of the N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor), GR (glucocorticoid receptor), VGLUT (vesicular glutamate transporter), VGAT (vesicular GABA transporter).