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Behavioral profile assessment in offspring of Swiss mice treated during pregnancy and lactation with caffeine

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Abstract

The association between caffeine consumption and various psychiatric manifestations has long been observed. The objective was to assess the behavioral profile in offspring of Swiss mice treated during pregnancy and lactation with caffeine. For this purpose, two groups (n = 6 each and BW ~ 35 g) of female mice were treated during pregnancy and lactation by: tap water and caffeine solution at a concentration of 0.3 mg/mL through oral route. The offspring obtained, by completing 70 days of life, was underwent a behavioral battery test. Statistical analysis was performed by student t test and the different significance adopted was p < 0.05. According to our results, it was not found any significant differences in tail suspension and forced swimming tests. In anxiety related responses however, the mice of caffeine group had greater number of fecal pellets (178 %, p = 0.001) in the open field test, higher number of attempts (51 %, p = 0.03) in light-dark box and decreased percentage of entries in open arms (41 %, p = 0.01) in elevated plus maze test. Moreover, in the marble burying test, there was a significant decrease in the number of buried marbles compared with controls (110 %, p = 0,002). In the meantime, in the von Frey test, it was observed an exacerbation of mechanical allodynia both in basal conditions and after the carrageenan administration (p < 0.001). Furthermore, caffeine treatment during pregnancy and lactation causes long-term behavioral changes in the mice offspring that manifest later in life.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq) for granting a fellowship to Roberto Laureano Melo and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – FAPERJ) for funding the present study. We also thank Antonio Vicente Conrado Leite José da Costa and Ipojucan Pereira de Souza employers of Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRuralRJ) for the support in the Animal Facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multicenter Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences, Brazilian Physiological Society, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, BR 465, Km 7, PQ Room 30, Seropedica, 23897-000, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Roberto Laureano-Melo, Anderson Luiz Bezerra da Silveira, Rodrigo Rodrigues da Conceição, Cláudio da Silva-Almeida, Bruno Guimarães Marinho, Fábio Fagundes da Rocha, Luís Carlos Reis & Wellington da Silva Côrtes

  2. Department of Physical Education, Institute of Education, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, BR 465, Km 7, 23897-000, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Anderson Luiz Bezerra da Silveira

  3. Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, BR 465, Km 7, PQ Room 01, Seropedica, 23897-000, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Fernando de Azevedo Cruz Seara, Bruno Guimarães Marinho, Fábio Fagundes da Rocha, Luís Carlos Reis & Wellington da Silva Côrtes

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  1. Roberto Laureano-Melo
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Correspondence to Wellington da Silva Côrtes.

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Laureano-Melo, R., da Silveira, A.L.B., de Azevedo Cruz Seara, F. et al. Behavioral profile assessment in offspring of Swiss mice treated during pregnancy and lactation with caffeine. Metab Brain Dis 31, 1071–1080 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-016-9847-5

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