Study Links Maternal Infections to Disrupted Brain Development and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Newborns
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A pioneering peer-reviewed research study published in Brain Medicine provides compelling evidence that maternal infections during pregnancy can have lasting effects on offspring brain function.
Researchers from the Slovak Academy of Sciences investigated the impact of maternal immune activation (MIA) on hippocampal pyramidal neurons in newborn rat offspring and found that prenatal inflammation significantly impairs neuronal excitability. These changes in brain function may underlie the increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with maternal infections.
During pregnancy, infections trigger an immune response that releases cytokines—chemical messengers that can cross the placenta and impact fetal brain development. Using a well-established animal model, the researchers induced MIA in pregnant rats with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial component that stimulates the immune system. They then examined the hippocampal neurons of newborn offspring to assess how prenatal immune activation affected their excitability.
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