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Behavioral effects of bovine lactoferrin administration during postnatal development of rats

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Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that rats consuming bovine lactoferrin (bLf) during postnatal development would show better performance of stressful tasks during adolescence. In the first study, we orally administered bLf (750 mg/kg) once daily between postnatal days 16–34. Rats then underwent a battery of behavioral tests: open field (forced exploration of risky environment), light–dark emergence (voluntary exploration of risky environment), baited holeboard (working and reference memory), food neophobia (preference for familiar versus novel food), forced swim (test for antidepressant efficacy), and shuttle-box escape (learning to escape footshock). bLf-supplemented rats showed less exploration of the risky environment, greater preference for the familiar food odor, and faster escape responses. The effect of bLf on forced-swim behavior depended on sex: immobility increased for males and decreased for females. In the next study, we replaced the forced-swim test with an escape-swim test in which rats learned to use a visual cue to locate an escape platform, and we tested the dose response of bLf on this and the shuttle-box escape test, with subjects receiving vehicle or bLf at 500, 1,000, or 2,000 mg/kg. Under this modified testing battery, improvement of escape from footshock was not observed at any dose. However, males, but not females, showed a significant dose-dependent effect of bLf on acquisition of the water-escape task. On average, males receiving a higher dose mastered the task 20–25 % sooner than rats receiving a lower dose or vehicle. These results offer preliminary evidence that bLf supplementation during development can improve subsequent cognitive performance during stress.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank F. Gonzalez-Lima for access to lab space and equipment and the following students for their assistance with bLf administration and behavioral testing and scoring: Logan Cummings, Janelle Geltman, Kate Pumphrey, David Song, and Sumaiya Syed. In addition, the first author thanks Blake Simmon and Sarah Finney for advice and support in writing the C++ program used for FST data wrangling. This project was funded by the Mead Johnson Pediatric Nutrition Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX, 78712-1043, USA

    Jason Shumake & Douglas W. Barrett

  2. Nutrition and Foods Program, School of Family and Consumer Sciences, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Michelle A. Lane

  3. Mead Johnson Pediatric Nutrition Institute, 2400 West Lloyd Expressway, Evansville, IN, 47721, USA

    Anja J. Wittke

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  1. Jason Shumake
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Correspondence to Jason Shumake.

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Shumake, J., Barrett, D.W., Lane, M.A. et al. Behavioral effects of bovine lactoferrin administration during postnatal development of rats. Biometals 27, 1039–1055 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-014-9735-6

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