Trans-generational effects of prenatal stress in quail

Guibert, Floriane; Lumineau, Sophie; Kotrschal, Kurt; Möstl, Erich; Richard‐Yris, Marie‐Annick; Houdelier, Cécilia

doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.2368

Cited by 28 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Examples of transgenerational effects of early-life conditions are quite abundant, especially in the biomedical, epidemiological and toxicological literature on humans and rodents (reviewed in refs 1 and 17). Studies showing transgenerational inheritance of phenotypic traits programmed by early-life conditions are more limited6061 (but see rodents5360626364; birds506566). However, most of these studies have shown transgenerational transmission at a single phenotypic level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgenerational transmission of a stress-coping phenotype programmed by early-life stress in the Japanese quail

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Larriva

Boogert

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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An interesting aspect of developmental programming is the existence of transgenerational effects that influence offspring characteristics and performance later in life. These transgenerational effects have been hypothesized to allow individuals to cope better with predictable environmental fluctuations and thus facilitate adaptation to changing environments. Here, we test for the first time how early-life stress drives developmental programming and transgenerational effects of maternal exposure to early-life stress on several phenotypic traits in their offspring in a functionally relevant context using a fully factorial design. We manipulated pre- and/or post-natal stress in both Japanese quail mothers and offspring and examined the consequences for several stress-related traits in the offspring generation. We show that pre-natal stress experienced by the mother did not simply affect offspring phenotype but resulted in the inheritance of the same stress-coping traits in the offspring across all phenotypic levels that we investigated, shaping neuroendocrine, physiological and behavioural traits. This may serve mothers to better prepare their offspring to cope with later environments where the same stressors are experienced.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgenerational transmission of a stress-coping phenotype programmed by early-life stress in the Japanese quail

Zimmer

Larriva

Boogert

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Precocial birds, particularly gallinaceans, are choice models for investigating genetic (Agnvall et al, ), epigenetic (Goerlich et al, ), prenatal (Guibert et al, ), and postnatal (Shimmura et al, ; Pittet et al, ) components of behavioral ontogeny. The increasing interest for these species' behavioral development requires information concerning the ontogeny of sex differences.…”

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confidence: 99%

Precocial bird mothers shape sex differences in the behavior of their chicks

2014

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Compared to mammals and altricial birds, evaluations of differences related to precocial birds' sex have often been limited to sexual behavior. Nevertheless, the extensive use of precocial bird models for investigating behavioral development issues requires in depth knowledge concerning the emergence of sex differences. Here, we evaluated behavioral differences between Japanese quail chicks in relation to their sex. We know that maternal influences are strong and early social environment shapes behavioral development in this species. Therefore, we investigated the emergence of sex differences in two very different early social situations to evaluate the impact of precocial bird mothers on sex differences. We assessed behavioral differences related to sex of (1) non-brooded chicks and of (2) brooded chicks, using various ethological tests to evaluate emotional reactivity and social motivation differences related to sex. Our results show that both non-brooded and brooded chicks present behavioral differences related to sex. They differed greatly according to chicks' early experience. Sex-related differences between maternally deprived (non-brooded) chicks concerned mainly fearfulness, whereas differences between male and female brooded chicks concerned mainly their reactions to social isolation. We hypothesize that mothers attenuate sex differences related to fearfulness by being a model for responses to fear-eliciting situations and by providing a similar secure basis to both males and females. We finally propose that mothers induce differences in chicks' sociality by providing asymmetrical care toward males and females.

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“…More recent studies showed that male rats prenatally exposed to stress showed reduced testosterone levels, delayed latency to the first mount or first intromission, and also decreased number of ejaculations [17]. Similarly, sexual behavior of prenatally stressed male birds is reported to be impaired [18]. These effects will be more difficult to identify in humans due to much lower fertility and, if they hold, they can be counterbalanced by a desire for a large family size, less adequate use of contraception or infertility treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Bereavement and Childbirths in the Offspring: A Population-Based Cohort Study

et al. 2014

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IntroductionThe decline in birth rates is a concern in public health. Fertility is partly determined before birth by the intrauterine environment and prenatal exposure to maternal stress could, through hormonal disturbance, play a role. There has been such evidence from animal studies but not from humans. We aimed to examine the association between prenatal stress due to maternal bereavement following the death of a relative and childbirths in the offspring.Materials and MethodsThis population-based cohort study included all subjects born in Denmark after 1968 and in Sweden after 1973 and follow-up started at the age of 12 years. Subjects were categorized as exposed if their mothers lost a close relative during pregnancy or the year before and unexposed otherwise. The main outcomes were age at first child and age-specific mean numbers of childbirths. Data was analyzed using Cox Proportional Hazards models stratified by gender and adjusted for several covariates. Subanalyses were performed considering the type of relative deceased and timing of bereavement.ResultsA total of 4,121,596 subjects were followed-up until up to 41 years of age. Of these subjects, 93,635 (2.3%) were exposed and 981,989 (23.8%) had at least one child during follow-up time. Compared to unexposed, the hazard ratio (HR) [95% confidence interval] of having at least one child for exposed males and females were 0.98 [0.96–1.01] and 1.01 [0.98–1.03], respectively. We found a slightly reduced probability of having children in females born to mothers who lost a parent with HR = 0.97 [0.94–0.99] and increased probability in females born to mothers who lost another child (HR = 1.09 [1.04–1.14]), the spouse (HR = 1.29 [1.12–1.48]) or a sibling (HR = 1.13 [1.01–1.27]).ConclusionsOur results suggested no overall association between prenatal exposure to maternal stress and having a child in early adulthood but a longer time of follow-up is necessary in order to reach a firmer conclusion.

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Trans-generational effects of prenatal stress in quail

Cited by 28 publications

References 34 publications

Transgenerational transmission of a stress-coping phenotype programmed by early-life stress in the Japanese quail

Transgenerational transmission of a stress-coping phenotype programmed by early-life stress in the Japanese quail

Precocial bird mothers shape sex differences in the behavior of their chicks

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Bereavement and Childbirths in the Offspring: A Population-Based Cohort Study

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