Prenatal exposure to antibodies from mothers of children with autism produces neurobehavioral alterations: A pregnant dam mouse model.
A pregnant mouse model was used to compare the effect of IgG, administered E13-E18, from mothers of children with autistic disorder (MCAD), to controls (simple- and IgG-) on behavioral testing in offspring. Mice, exposed in-utero to MCAD-IgG, as adolescents, were more active during the first ten minutes of central field novelty testing and, as adults, displayed anxiety-like behavior on a component of the elevated plus maze and had a greater magnitude of startle following acoustic stimulation. On a social interaction paradigm, adult mice had alterations of sociability. Pilot studies of immune markers in MCAD IgG-exposed embryonic brains suggest evidence of cytokine and glial activation. These studies demonstrate that the transplacental passage of IgG from MCAD is capable of inducing long-term behavioral consequences.
Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States. hsinger@jhmi.edu
Harvey S
HS
Singer
Christina
C
Morris
Colin
C
Gause
Matthew
M
Pollard
Andrew W
AW
Zimmerman
Mikhail
M
Pletnikov
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000276:immunology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology / Q000633:toxicity*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D016207:Cytokines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G