Research article summary (published 30 Aug 2009):

Artificial rearing of rat pups reveals the beneficial effects of mother care on neonatal inflammation and adult sensitivity to pain.

Full Abstract

Repeated pain during brain development can have long-term consequences in both humans and animals. We previously showed that maternal care provided to pups experiencing pain reduced adult pain sensitivity. This study tested whether sensory stimulation was responsible for this effect. Rat pups were either mother-reared controls (MR-CON) or artificially reared (AR) with minimal (AR-MIN) or maximal (AR-MAX) stimulation provided daily. In each rearing condition, pups were either uninjected or injected from postnatal day (PND) 4 to 14 with saline (0.9%) or formalin (0.2-0.4%). Pain behavior and paw inflammation were scored. Thermal sensitivity and responses to formalin were tested in adulthood (PND 70). AR neonates, irrespective of sensory stimulation received, exhibited a pain response (p < 0.001), even with a mild formalin dose. Maternal rearing reduced inflammation during the second week of life compared with AR pups (p < 0.05). Early pain exposure did not modify adult pain sensitivity. However, rearing altered adult pain sensitivity such that uninjected MR-CON rats had lower pain sensitivities than uninjected AR rats (p < 0.05). This suggests that the beneficial effects of maternal rearing can be obliterated if additional stimulation/stress occurs during the early neonatal period. In addition, this suggests that optimal level of maternal stimulation exists that determines adult pain sensitivity.

Author information

Author/s: de Medeiros, Cynthia B (CB); Fleming, Alison S (AS); Johnston, Celeste C (CC); Walker, Claire-Dominique (CD);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Pediatric research (Pediatr Res), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 66 (issue 3) : pp 272-7

Dates: Created 2009/08/20; Completed 2009/10/27;

PMID: 19531973, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 10/27/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

Animals Animals, Newborn - physiology Behavior, Animal - physiology Body Weight Female Humans Inflammation - physiopathology Male

Male Maternal Behavior - physiology Maternal Deprivation Pain Measurement Pain Threshold - physiology Random Allocation Rats Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

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