Expression of apoptosis-regulatory genes in the hippocampus of rat neonates born to mothers with diabetes

Diabetes during pregnancy impairs the development of the central nervous system (CNS) and causescognitive and behavioral abnormalities in offspring. However, the exact mechanism by which the maternal diabetesaffects the development of the brain remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate theeffects of maternal diabetes in pregnancy on the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax genes and the numerical density ofdegenerating dark neurons (DNs) in the hippocampus of offspring at the first postnatal two weeks.Methods: Wistar female rats were maintained diabetic from a week before pregnancy through parturition and maleoffspring was sacrificed at P0, P7, and P14.Results: Our findings demonstrated a significant down-regulation in the hippocampal expression of Bcl-2 in thediabetic group newborns (P < 0.05). In contrast, the mRNA expression of Bax was markedly up-regulated in theoffspring born to diabetic dams at all of studied time-points (P < 0.05). Moreover, we found a striking increase in thenumerical density of DNs in the various subfields of hippocampus of diabetic group pups (P < 0.05). Conclusion:The results of the present study revealed that maternal hyperglycemia during gestational period may result indisturbances in the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax genes as two important genes in neuronal apoptosis regulation andinduces the production of DNs in the developing hippocampus of neonatal rats. These disturbances may be a reasonfor the cognitive, structural, and behavioral anomalies observed in offspring born to diabetic mothers. Furthermore,the control of maternal glycaemia by insulin administration in most cases normalized these negative impacts.References: (If any)

کلیدواژه ها:

Maternal diabetes ، Apoptosis regulatory genes ، Dark neuron ، Hippocampus ، Rat neonate