Abstract
Maternal immune activation (MIA) model has been profoundly described as a suitable approach to study the pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Our previous study revealed that prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced working memory impairments in only male offspring. Based on the putative role of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in working memory process, the current study was conducted to examine the long-lasting effect of LPS-induced MIA on several neuroinflammatory mediators in the PFC of adult male pups. We also investigated whether maternal zinc supplementation can alleviate LPS-induced alterations in this region. Pregnant rats received intraperitoneal injections of either LPS (0.5 mg/kg) or saline on gestation days 15/16 and supplemented with ZnSO4 (30 mg/kg) throughout pregnancy. At postnatal day 60, the density of both microglia and astrocyte cells and the expression levels of IL-6, IL-1β, iNOS, TNF-α, NF-κB, and GFAP were evaluated in the PFC of male pups. Although maternal LPS treatment increased microglia and astrocyte density, number of neurons in the PFC of adult offspring remained unchanged. These findings were accompanied by the exacerbated mRNA levels of IL-6, IL-1β, iNOS, TNF-α, NF-κB, and GFAP as well. Conversely, prenatal zinc supplementation alleviated the mentioned alterations induced by LPS. These findings support the idea that the deleterious effects of prenatal LPS exposure could be attenuated by zinc supplementation during pregnancy. It is of interest to suggest early therapeutic intervention as a valuable approach to prevent neurodevelopmental deficits, following maternal infection.
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The data that support the findings of this study can be accessed upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.
Abbreviations
- LPS:
-
Lipopolysaccharide
- PND:
-
Postnatal day
- PFC:
-
Prefrontal cortex
- GD:
-
Gestation day
- MIA:
-
Maternal immune activation
- CNS:
-
Central nervous system
- GFAP:
-
Glial fibrillary acidic protein
- TNF-α:
-
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha
- IL-1β:
-
Interleukin 1 beta
- IL-6:
-
Interleukin 6
- NF-κB:
-
Nuclear factor kappa B
- iNOS:
-
Inducible nitric oxide synthase
- iba1:
-
Ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1
- DAPI:
-
4′,6-diamidino2-phenylindole
- MT:
-
Maternal metallothionein
- i.p.:
-
Intraperitoneal
- qPCR:
-
Quantitative PCR
- H&E:
-
Hematoxylin-eosin
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- ELISA:
-
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
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Funding
This study was supported by a grant [grant no. 960329] from the Research Vice-Chancellor of Hormozgan University for Medical Science (HUMS).
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Conceived and designed the study: Nahid Davoodian and Fatemeh Shaerzadeh
Data collection: Ronak Mousaviyan, Faezeh Alizadeh, Nahid Davoodian, and Haniyeh Kazemi
Data analysis: Nahid Davoodian, Maryam Ghasemi-Kasman, and Seyed Abdollah Mousavi
Manuscript preparation: Nahid Davoodian and Maryam Ghasemi-Kasman
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All animal procedures in this research were carried out in accordance with the National Institutes of Health guide for the care and use of laboratory animals and also approved by the local Institutional Ethics Committee (approval number: IR.HUMS.REC.1397.010).
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Mousaviyan, R., Davoodian, N., Alizadeh, F. et al. Zinc Supplementation During Pregnancy Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Glial Activation and Inflammatory Markers Expression in a Rat Model of Maternal Immune Activation. Biol Trace Elem Res 199, 4193–4204 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02553-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02553-6