Different effects of acute neonatal stressors and long-term postnatal handling on stress-induced changes in behavior and in ornithine decarboxylase activity of adult rats

A transient increase in brain polyamine (PA) metabolism, termed the PA-stress-response (PSR), is a common response to stressful stimuli. Previous studies have implicated the PSR as a component of the adaptive and/or maladaptive brain response to stressful events. Ample evidence indicates that stressful experiences during early life can alter normal developmental processes and may result in pathophysiological and behavioral changes in the adult. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to determine whether strong acute neonatal stressors (3 mg/kg dexamethasone, or 2 h restraint stress at day 7), as compared to mild long-term intermittent-maternal separation and handling (15 min, twice a day between postnatal days 2 and 25), would lead in adult Wistar rats to different PSR and behavioral reactivity to novelty stress. Changes in ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and in tissue PA concentrations served as markers of the PSR, and behavioral alterations in an open-field arena indicated the reactivity to novelty stress. Animals subjected to acute neonatal stressors, showed reduced behavioral reactivity in the open-field test, indicative of increased emotional reactivity to novelty. In these animals, the increase in ODC activity after dexamethasone challenge was attenuated in the brain, but exaggerated in the liver. In the thymus and adrenal gland of these animals, the basal enzyme activity was significantly increased, but a similar reduction was observed after dexamethasone challenge. In contrast, long-term postnatal handling led in adults to novelty-induced changes indicative of reduced emotional behavior, yet the alterations in ODC activity after dexamethasone challenge in these animals were similar to those in animals after acute stressors. The concentrations of tissue polyamines in adults were not affected by any of the postnatal stressors. The results justify the following conclusions: (1) Strong acute neonatal stressors can lead to increased emotional behavior in adults, while mild long-term intermittent handling, may result in adaptation and reduced emotionality. (2) Attenuated stress-induced increase of ODC activity in the brain, but exaggerated increased activity in the liver, may be implicated in altered emotional behavior reactivity to stressors. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.