Maternal environmental enrichment protects neonatal brains from hypoxic-ischemic challenge by mitigating brain energetic dysfunction and modulating glial cell responses.

There is evidence that maternal milieu and changes in environmental factors during the prenatal period may exert a lasting impact on the brain health of the newborn, even in case of neonatal brain hypoxia-ischemia (HI). The present study aimed to investigate the effects of maternal environmental enrichment (EE) on HI-induced energetic and metabolic failure, along with subsequent neural cell responses in the early postnatal period. Male Wistar pups born to dams exposed to maternal EE or standard conditions (SC) were randomly divided into Sham-SC, HI-SC, Sham-EE, and HI-EE groups. Neonatal HI was induced on postnatal day (PND) 3. The Na+,K+-ATPase activity, mitochondrial function and neuroinflammatory related-proteins were assessed at 24 h and 48 h after HI. MicroPET-FDG scans were used to measure glucose uptake at three time points: 24 h post-HI, PND18, and PND24. Moreover, neuronal preservation and glial cell responses were evaluated at PND18. After HI, animals exposed to maternal EE showed an increase in Na+,K+-ATPase activity, preservation of mitochondrial potential/mass ratio, and a reduction in mitochondrial swelling. Glucose uptake was preserved in HI-EE animals from PND18 onwards. Maternal EE attenuated HI-induced cell degeneration, white matter injury, and reduced astrocyte immunofluorescence. Moreover, the HI-EE group exhibited elevated levels of IL-10 and a reduction in Iba-1 positive cells. Data suggested that the regulation of AKT/ERK1/2 signaling pathways could be involved in the effects of maternal EE. This study evidenced that antenatal environmental stimuli could promote bioenergetic and neural resilience in the offspring against early HI damage, supporting the translational value of pregnancy-focused environmental treatments.