Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33949804›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychopharmacology reports2021

The long-term prognosis of hippocampal neurogenesis and behavioral changes of offspring from rats exposed to valproic acid during pregnancy.

Masanobu Ito, Tomoya Kinjo, Tatsunori Seki, Junko Horie, Toshihito Suzuki

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychopharmacology reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pre- and Postnatal Valproate Exposure Affects Brain Development.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Epilepsy in Pregnancy-Management Principles and Focus on Valproate.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Masanobu ItoDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-7228-9809
Tomoya KinjoDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Tatsunori SekiDepartment of Histology and Neuroanatomy, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
Junko HorieDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Toshihito SuzukiDepartment of Psychiatry, Juntendo Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama, Japan.
Juntendo University · JPDokkyo Medical University Saitama Medical Center · JPTokyo Medical University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimIn pregnant women with epilepsy, it is essential to balance maternal safety and the potential teratogenicity of anticonvulsants. Recently, growing evidence has indicated that valproic acid (VPA) can produce postnatal congenital malformations and impair cognitive function. However, the mechanisms underlying cognitive dysfunction in long-term prognoses remain unclear.

methodsPregnant Wistar rats received daily intraperitoneal injections of VPA (200 mg/kg/day) from embryonic day 12.5 until birth. On postnatal day (PD) 149, the rats received an injection of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). On PD 150, the rats were subjected to the open field (OF), elevated plus-maze (EPM), and Y-maze tests. After behavioral testing, perfusion fixation was performed and the brain was dissected for immunohistochemistry.

resultsA significant marked decrease was seen in the number of BrdU-positive cells in the dentate gyrus of offspring of VPA-treated dams compared to those of control. However, no significant differences in hyperactivity were found based on the results of the OF test among the offspring on PD 150 of 200 VPA-treated dams. In addition, no significant differences were seen in the EPM test.

conclusionThe behavioral abnormality observed in young offspring of VPA-treated dams was not significantly different from that of controls in adult offspring on PD 150. However, compared with controls, the number of BrdU-positive cells in VPA-treated rats was halved. The findings suggest that the behavioral abnormality seems to improve as they grow, even if some structural abnormalities may remain in the central nervous system.

Indexed as

Prenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsValproic AcidAnimalsFemaleHippocampusHumansNeurogenesisPregnancyPrognosisRatsRats, WistarValproic Acidattention deficit hyperactivity disorderlong-termneurogenesisoffspringprenatal toxicityvalproic acid

Identifiers

PMID33949804
PMCPMC8340817
OpenAlexW3159198110

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.