Pregnancies alters spine number in cortical and subcortical limbic brain regions of old rats

Pregnancy is a complex process, involving a number of hormones and trophic factors, many of which are formed in the placenta. Several of these trophic factors have an effect at the neuronal level, such as BDNF. Consequently, recent reports have shown that exposure to these hormones (estrogen and progesterone) and trophic factors such as BDNF exert a neuroprotective effect. Here, we study the effect of the number of pregnancies on dendritic morphology of aged female rats (18 months of age). Rats of the 18-month-old Sprague Dawley strain with zero, one, two, and three gestations were evaluated for locomotor activity, and Golgi–Cox stain was performed to evaluate the dendritic morphology parameters, the number of dendritic spines, total dendritic length, and branching order number. Adult nulliparous rats (3 months of age) were used as another control group. Adult nulliparous and aging rats with two pregnancies showed an increase in locomotor activity. Adult nulliparous showed an increase in the dendritic spine number compared to old nulliparous rats in both layers of the PFC, the DG, and NAcc. Old rats with two and three pregnancies also showed an increase in the number of dendritic spines compared to old nulliparous rats in layers 3 and 5 of the PFC and in the CA1. Aging animals with one pregnancy also showed an increase in dendritic length compared to old nulliparous rats in the CA1. Our results clearly suggest that two and three pregnancies increase the dendritic spines number in the PFC and CA1 of aged female rats.