The effect of maternal diabetes on the expression of gamma-aminobutyric acid and metabotropic glutamate receptors in male newborn rats' inferior colliculi

Abstract

Objectives: Few studies have examined the molecular alterations in the auditory pathway of infants of diabetic mothers, notwithstanding the fact that maternal diabetes may have an impact on the development of the neonatal peripheral and central nervous systems. Male newborn rats were studied to determine how maternal diabetes affected the expression of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA_Aα1 and GABA_B1) and metabotropic glutamate (mGlu2) receptors in the inferior colliculus (IC) in this research.

Methods: Female rats were given a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at a 65 mg/kg dose to develop a model of diabetic mothers. The study population was split into sham, diabetes without treatment, and diabetes with insulin groups. Their male neonatal rats were anesthetized on P0, P7, and P14 after mating and delivery. The receptors' distribution pattern was studied using immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Results: Pairwise comparison in the groups revealed that the GABA receptors (Aα1 and B1) were significantly downregulated in the diabetes without treatment group (p<0.001). Furthermore, pairwise comparison in the groups indicated significant mGlu2 upregulation in the diabetes without treatment group (p<0.001). Regarding the concentration of all receptors, there was no discernible distinction between the diabetes with insulin and sham groups.

Conclusions: This investigation showed that the concentration of GABA_Aα1 and GABA_B1 receptors decreased significantly over time, whereas the concentration of mGlu2 receptors increased significantly over time in male neonatal rats born to streptozotocin-induced diabetic mothers.

Keywords: GABA; diabetes; inferior colliculus; mGlu; neonatal; rat.