The Effect of Prenatal Stress on the Level of NO-Metabolites in the Central Nervous System

Nitric oxide performs a number of essential functions in the central nervous system. This neurotransmitter regulates apoptotic processes, differentiation and proliferation of neurons, synaptic activity, plasticity. Prenatal stress may be a factor affecting the NO level in different parts of the central nervous system (CNS). The aim of the work was to study the level of NO metabolites in phylogenetically different parts of the central nervous system in prenatally stressed mature male and female rats, depending on the stage of the estrous cycle. Pregnant female rats (n = 12) were subjected to stress from the 16th to the 19th days of pregnancy for 3 hours in the morning. The NO level was assessed in adult (4-month-old) offspring of both sexes. In males, there was a decrease in the level of NO metabolites in the cerebellum and hypothalamus and an increase in the spinal cord. The level of NO metabolites within the studied parts of the CNS of females in the control was higher, after undergoing prenatal stress it changed less compared to males: significant changes were noted in the spinal cord regardless of the estrus cycle stage and in the cerebellum at the stage of estrus. Thus, regardless of gender, the phylogenetically younger structure, the cerebral cortex, turned out to be the most resistant to prenatal stress; the most pronounced changes were noted in the phylogenetically ancient part of the CNS, the spinal cord. Given the importance of NO in the CNS as a key signaling molecule, any changes in its level under the influence of prenatal stress can both have a significant adaptive value and have negative consequences for the functional state of the tissue.