This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how gestational dexamethasone exposure impacts hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission and learning and memory function with transgenerational effects.


The formation of learning and memory is regulated by synaptic plasticity in hippocampal neurons. The authors of this article explored how gestational exposure to dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid commonly used in clinical practice, has lasting effects on offspring’s learning and memory.

Adult offspring rats of prenatal dexamethasone exposure (PDE) displayed significant impairments in novelty recognition and spatial learning memory, with some phenotypes maintained transgenerationally. PDE impaired synaptic transmission of hippocampal excitatory neurons in offspring of F1 to F3 generations, and abnormalities of neurotransmitters and receptors would impair synaptic plasticity and lead to impaired learning and memory, but these changes failed to carry over to offspring of F5 and F7 generations. Mechanistically, altered hippocampal miR-133a-3p-SIRT1-CDK5-NR2B signaling axis in PDE multigeneration caused inhibition of excitatory synaptic transmission, which might be related to oocyte-specific high expression and transmission of miR-133a-3p.

Together, PDE affects hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission, with lasting consequences across generations, and CDK5 in offspring’s peripheral blood might be used as an early-warning marker for fetal-originated learning and memory impairment.

Keywords: Dexamethasone, Early-warning marker, Hippocampus, Histon acetylation, Learning and memory impairment, MicroRNA, Synaptic transmission, Transgenerational inheritance
Graphical Abstract: available at https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S2211383523001557-ga1_lrg.jpg
Hippocampal miR-133a-3p–SIRT1–CDK5–NR2B signaling axis mediates transgenerational effects on learning and memory in PDE offspring. CDK5 in offspring’s blood may be an early-warning marker for fetal-originated learning and memory impairment.

The Journal of the Institute of Materia Medica, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.
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CiteScore: 19.4
Impact Factor: 14.5
JIF without self-citation: 13.7
ISSN 2211-3835


Full bibliographic information
Published on 15/10/2023 by Compuscript Ltd
By Mingcui Luo, Yiwen Yi, Songqiang Huang, Shiyun Dai, Lulu Xie, Kexin Liu, Shuai Zhang, Tao Jiang, Tingting Wang, Baozhen Yao, Hui Wang, Dan Xu, About: Gestational dexamethasone exposure impacts hippocampal excitatory synaptic transmission and learning and memory function with transgenerational effects, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, Volume 13, Issue 9, 2023, Pages 3708-3727,
ISSN 2211-3835,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2023.05.013