Maternal Immune Activation with Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A Produces Unique Behavioral Changes in C57BL/6 Mouse Offspring.

Maternal Immune Activation with Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A Produces Unique Behavioral Changes in C57BL/6 Mouse Offspring. Brain Behav Immun. 2018 May 14;: Authors: Glass R, Norton S, Fox N, Kusnecov AW Abstract Stimulation of the immune system during pregnancy, known as maternal immune activation (MIA), can cause long-lasting neurobiological and behavioral changes in the offspring. This phenomenon has been implicated in the etiology of developmental psychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. Much of this evidence is predicated on animal models using bacterial agents such as LPS and/or viral mimics such as Poly I:C, both of which act through toll-like receptors. However, fewer studies have examined the role of direct activation of maternal T-cells during pregnancy using microbial agents. Bacterial superantigens, such as Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A and B (SEA; SEB), are microbial proteins that activate CD4+ T-cells and cause prominent T-cell proliferation and cytokine production. We injected pregnant and non-pregnant adult female C57BL/6 mice with 5μg of SEA, SEB, or 0.9% saline, and measured splenic T-cell-derived cytokine concentrations (viz., IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-4) 2 hours later; animals injected with SEA were also measured for splenic concentrations of TNF-α and IL-17A. Half of the injected pregnant animals were brought to term, and their offspring were tested on a series of behavioral tasks starting at si...
Source: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Behav Immun Source Type: research