Behavioral Alterations and Decreased Number of Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons in Wistar Rats after Maternal Immune Activation by Lipopolysaccharide: Sex Matters.

ABSTRACT: Maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy represents an important environmental factor in the etiology of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Our goal was to investigate the impacts of MIA on the brain and behavior of adolescent and adult offspring, as a rat model of these neurodevelopmental disorders. We injected bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 mg/kg) to pregnant Wistar dams from gestational day 7, every other day, up to delivery. Behavior of the offspring was examined in a comprehensive battery of tasks at postnatal days P45 and P90. Several brain parameters were analyzed at P28. The results showed that prenatal immune activation caused social and communication impairments in the adult offspring of both sexes; males were affected already in adolescence. MIA al

SUBMITTER: Vojtechova I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8004756 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature