Perinatal high‐fat diet impairs pup retrieval and induces sex‐specific changes in ultrasonic vocalization characteristics of rat pups

Abstract

Rodent pups emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to solicit maternal behavior, promoting their survival. Conversely, maternal behaviors affect the expression of pup USVs. We previously demonstrated that a maternal diet high in saturated fat (HFD) alters maternal behavior and is associated with early maturation of pups and their stress physiology. Here, we assessed the developmental profiles of pup USVs using quantitative and qualitative measures on postnatal days (PND)7 and 13. Quantitative measures included call counts, duration, and frequency, while qualitative measures examined calls' sonographic structures. HFD offspring lacked the typical decrease in USV numbers with age observed among control offspring. They also had shorter calls at PND7 compared to control and HFD offspring at PND13. HFD female offspring showed a greater number of one-frequency-sweep calls, while male pups showed a greater number of two-frequency-sweep calls compared to control offspring.Concomitantly, HFD dams showed impaired pup retrieval on PND7. The data suggest that fewer USVs of shorter duration in HFD offspring may alter dam solicitation and thus impair maternal pup retrieval. This study highlights the impacts of perinatal HFD exposure on the dyadic reciprocal interaction between dam and pups, which may set the stage for long-lasting effects on offspring physiology and behavior. K E Y W O R D S development, maternal behavior, mother-pup interactions, perinatal high-fat diet, rodent, sonogram, ultrasonic vocalization | 437 ABUAISH et Al. How to cite this article: Abuaish S, Tse EK, McGowan PO. Perinatal high-fat diet impairs pup retrieval and induces sexspecific changes in ultrasonic vocalization characteristics of rat pups. Developmental Psychobiology. 2020;62:436-445.

Biological and Acoustic Sex Differences in Rat Ultrasonic Vocalization

“…Female pups on the high-fat diet produced more 1-sweep distress USVs, whereas male pups on the high-fat diet produced more 2-sweep distress USVs when compared to sex-matched controls [127].…”

Prenatal High-Fat Diet Rescues Communication Deficits in Fmr1 Mutant Mice in a Sex-Specific Manner

“…It is possible that the sex specificity in the present study results reflect differences in the underlying model, as males showed few differences at this stage. Previous studies have corroborated differential effects of a maternal high-fat diet on USV behaviors in male and female offspring, suggesting that this is indeed a complex mechanism [47]. The exact combination of these factors at play in the present study is unclear, and future studies should elaborate on this question.…”

BAMBI: A new method for automated assessment of bidirectional early-life interaction between maternal behavior and pup vocalization in mouse dam-pup dyads

“…Bidirectional dam-pup dyad interactions are critical for pup survival. However, most studies investigated dyadic members and behaviors unilaterally Abuaish et al, 2020). In the current study, we describe BAMBI (Bidirectional Automated Mother-pup Behavioral Interaction test) to assess bidirectional dam-pup interaction in laboratory mice.…”

“…On the other hand, assays such as the pup retrieval test (PRT) or USV playback tests center on maternal behaviors, such as search and retrieval (Sewell, 1970;Smotherman et al, 1974;Ehret and Haack, 1982;Ehret, 1992Ehret, , 2005. Some studies implemented both unidirectional procedures separately, but assessed statistical association afterward Bowers et al, 2013;Abuaish et al, 2020). Combining both procedures in one behavioral assay has several advantages.…”