Neuromolecular and behavioral studies for management of developmental animals.

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Disruption of the mother-pup interaction changes the physiology and behavior of pups via epigenetic modifications.We have demonstrated that early weaning results in a persistent increase in anxiety-like and aggressive behavior in adult mice. Early-weaned mice also showed higher hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in response to novelty stress. Neurochemically, early-weaned male mice, but not female mice, showed precocious myelination in the amygdala, decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and reduced bromodeoxyuridine immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus. The early weaned mice showed higher corticosterone response more than 48 hours, and this increment of corticosterone caused many aspects of early-weaning phenomena. Thus higher glucocorticoid secretion in the developmental period has a great impact on brain development.