Prenatal stress suppresses cell proliferation in the early developing brain

Although prenatal stress has been repeatedly shown to inhibit adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of offspring, its effects on embryonic and early postnatal brain development are not well described. Here, using the cell proliferation marker 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine, we examine for the first time the effect of prenatal stress at the embryonic stage on cell proliferation in the hippocampus, nucleus accumbens and amygdala. We show that prenatal stress induces a significant decrease in density of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine-positive cells in the nucleus accumbens (40%) and hippocampus (60%), and a nonsignificant decrease in the amygdala (30%). Taken together, these results demonstrate the adverse effects of prenatal maternal stress on early development in limbic brain regions and the potential mechanisms are discussed.