Alterations in the dentate gyrus of the offspring of rats treated with alprazolam during gestation

• Published in: Journal of chemical neuroanatomy 2023-04, Vol.129, p.102253-102253, Article 102253
• Main Authors: Silva, Natália Ferreira, Mascarenhas, Fernanda Naves Araújo do Prado, Ribeiro, Daniele Lisboa, Zanon, Renata Graciele
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alprazolam; Alprazolam - pharmacology; Animals; Body Weight; Cell Proliferation; Cell Size; Dentate Gyrus - drug effects; Dentate Gyrus - metabolism; Female; Hippocampus; Lipid Peroxidation; Male; Neural development; Neuron; NF-kappa B - metabolism; Pregnancy; Rats; Rats, Wistar
• ISSN: 0891-0618; 1873-6300
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2023.102253

Benzodiazepine (BZD) abuse is a global problem, including pregnant women. For this population, the drug of choice is usually alprazolam, which acts as a GABAergic agonist and may compromise the development of integrative areas of the nervous system, such as the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. In this context, we studied the changes in the DG of the offspring of rats treated with alprazolam during gestation: control, treatment 1 (T1: 1.25 mg/animal), and an overdose group (T2: 30 mg/animal). Alprazolam was administered orally ten days before mating and during the gestational period. After birth, newborns were counted, sexed, and the body mass of each pup was measured. The newborns' brains were extracted and processed for morphological study of the DG or for total protein extraction of the hippocampus. The results showed that alprazolam can affect the cell number and area, and increased euchromatin in both granular and molecular layers of the DG, especially in the overdose group. Also, alprazolam upregulated the NF-κB and reduced GFAP and caspase-3. Based on our findings, we conclude that the DG is a plausible region of influence by BZDs during embryogenesis. An overdose during gestation may cause structural changes in the DG. •Dentate gyrus is sensitive to prenatal treatment with alprazolam.•Alprazolam increased NF-kB, reduced caspase-3 and GFAP.•Larger and fewer cells in the dentate gyrus following alprazolam overdose.•The observed changes may have an impact on embryogenesis and migration.