Maternal immune activation by toll-like receptor 7 agonist during mid-gestation increases susceptibility to blood-brain barrier leakage after puberty.

ABSTRACT: Maternal immune activation (MIA), a maternal stressor, increases risk for neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Major Depressive Disorder in offspring. MIA of toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) initiates an immune response in mother and fetuses in a sex-selective manner. The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), a brain region that is sexually dimorphic and regulates hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress responses, have been tied to stress-related behaviors (i.e., depression, anxiety, social impairments). The current study characterized the sex-selective impact of mid-gestational TLR7 activation on PVN vasculature of adult offspring based on a prior study of excess prenatal glucocorticoid stress. The PVN of offspring were evaluated to determine if fetal MIA impacted vascular leaka

SUBMITTER: Sheng JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11694724 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature