Maternal stress exerts long-lasting postnatal growth on offspring, which persist into adulthood. However, the effect of maternal stress on appetizing system has not been widely reported. In this study, we found that maternal immobilization stress (IS) during lactation resulted in low body weight and food intake. Immunohistochemistry showed an increase in stomach ghrelin protein expression. The central regulation of body weight and food intake occurs in the hypothalamus, which contains multiple neuronal systems that play important roles in the regulation of energy homeostasis. These systems including multiple neuropeptides involve in the ghrelin pathway of appetite regulation. Therefore, real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure the change of mRNA expression of ghrelin pathway related hormones in order to explore the mechanisms involved in the appetite regulation. Expression levels of the hypothalamic 5-hydroxytryptamine 2c receptor (5-HT2cR) and 5-HT2bR, which are essential for the development and function of ghrelin and leptin, were decreased, as well as those of corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC). While the expression of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), neuropeptide-Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) showed an increase with significant difference. These results suggest that stress in a postpartum mother has persistent effects on the body weight of their offspring. Increased ghrelin and decreased leptin expression in the stomach may play a role in these effects.
Keywords: Maternal stress; appetizing system; ghrelin; stomach.