Sex Differences of Microglia and Synapses in the Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus of Adult Mouse Offspring Exposed to Maternal Immune Activation.

ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder affecting ∼1% of humans worldwide. It is earlier and more frequently diagnosed in men than woman, and men display more pronounced negative symptoms together with greater gray matter reductions. Our previous findings utilizing a maternal immune activation (mIA) mouse model of schizophrenia revealed exacerbated anxiety-like behavior and sensorimotor gating deficits in adult male offspring that were associated with increased microglial reactivity and inflammation in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). However, both male and female adult offspring displayed stereotypy and impairment of sociability. We hypothesized that mIA may lead to sex-specific alterations in microglial pruning activity, resulting in abnormal synaptic connectivity in the DG. Using the

SUBMITTER: Hui CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7593822 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature