CRF ADMINISTERED TO PREGNANT RATS ALTERS OFFSPRING BEHAVIOR AND MORPHOLOGY

Pregnant rats injected with 20 mu g of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRP) from day 14 through 21 gained less weight during gestation than did saline-injected controls. The offspring of CRF-injected females di ffered from the offspring of control females in several ways: males an d females weighed less during the first 2 weeks of life, males had sho rter anogenital distances at birth, and males and females emitted more ultrasonic vocalizations during isolation in tests at 6 and 14 days o f age. These effects are similar to those that have been observed foll owing exposure of pregnant females to stressors, and provide support f or the notion that CRF and/or CRF activation of the hypothalamic-pitui tary-adrenal axis mediate effects of gestational stress.