Abstract:

Objective To explore the role of glucocorticoid receptors（GRs）in the depressive⁃like behaviors of offspring of perinatally depressed mice（PND）. Methods Western blot was applied to detect the expression of GRs in PND mice generated with wild⁃type mice. Twenty mice with the placenta GR knocked down were generated using transgenic mice. Then western blot was used to verify the knockdown of the GRs in the mice，and the mor⁃ phology of the mice was analyzed. Pregnant GRs knocked down mice were stimulated continuously to be used to compare the growth and development of offspring of the GRs knockdown group（KD）and the GRs non⁃knockdown group（N⁃KD）；The locomotion behaviors and depressive⁃like behaviors of each group′s offspring were detected by open field test（OFT）and the forced swimming test（FST）. Results Compared with the control group，the level of GRs was increased in the placenta of female offspring of PND mice（P < 0.05）；The expression of GRs in placenta of KD decreased significantly（P < 0.05）；We observed no significant differences between the KD and N⁃KD in placental morphology（P > 0.05）；The growth and development and the exercise capacity of the KD and N⁃KD showed no significant differences（P > 0.05）；However，the female offspring of KD had more depressive tendencies than the male offspring（P < 0.05）. Conclusion A decrease in placental GRs augments the tendency of female offspring of PND mice to depression.

Key words:

GR, perinatal depression, conditional gene knockdown, transgenic mice