Comportamento social nos descendentes do hipotireoidismo gestacional: um modelo murinho de desarranjo do neurodesenvolvimento

Abstract

The so-called social behavior is based on the ability to communicate and interact with other individuals. These functions are essential for the human brain and are mediated by areas such as medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, inferior frontal gyrus and superior temporal groove. In the endocrinological grounds, it is known that maternal thyroid dysfunction, such as subclinical hypothyroidism, can cause significant neurological damage to the fetus, which in many ways resemble neuropsychiatric disorders. There is a scarcity of studies to better clarify and characterize changes in the offspring in the first and second generation. In this way, this thesis work proposed a behavioral study mainly in the evaluation of communication in a murine model descended from subclinical gestational hypothyroidism. We conducted studies using social behavioral paradigms designed in a sex-specific manner for both males and females: female foster mom, male offensive aggressiveness, open field, elevated plus maze, ultrasonic vocalization and gene expression evaluation. Our data showed a slight but definite impairment in the social behavior of male offspring from maternal gestational hypothyroidism. The conclusions of this doctoral thesis have emphasized the correlations with clinical aspects of neurodevelopmental diseases, in which may help to better understand the sex- dependent behavioral outcomes in post-pubertal and adult life.