The effect of sertraline and voluntary exercise during pregnancy on litter characteristics and postpartum affective behaviour in rat dams

Voluntary exercise during pregnancy in the WKY rat model, reduced postpartum anxiety-like behaviour. This was accompanied by elevated DNMT3a gene expression in the PFC, suggesting this region may be sensitive to DNA methylation changes following maternal exercise. In contrast, maternal sertraline did not impact these behaviours or genes. Maintaining sertraline treatment beyond postpartum day 14, or trialling different doses, may have resulted in broader effects on postpartum behaviour, which should be explored further. Maternal sertraline did appear to have some adverse effects on the in-utero environment, evidenced by smaller litters, with slightly smaller pup brain weights, which should be investigated further. Our findings suggest a long-term beneficial effect of exercise during pregnancy and support future studies examining the effects of exercise in antenatal depression in the human population.