18613
Developmental, Behavioral, and Neurobiological Consequences of Maternal Allergic Asthma: A Mouse Model in Support of Clinical Findings
Saturday, May 16, 2015: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM
Imperial Ballroom (Grand America Hotel)
J. Schwartzer1, M. Careaga2, C. Chang3, C. E. Onore4 and P. Ashwood5, (1)Neuroscience and Behavior, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, (2)UC Davis/MIND Institute, Sacramento, CA, (3)University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, (4)MIND Institute, UC Davis, Sacramento, CA, (5)UC Davis, Sacramento, CA
Background: Over the past 3 decades, there have been analogous increases in the incidence of both asthma and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), raising the question of whether these two conditions share common links. Recent population-based studies of expecting mothers who later had a child with ASD identified a unique profile of immune markers that mirrored the immune profile of an allergic asthma phenotype. These data suggest that maternal allergic asthma (MAA) may be an under-examined environmental factor influencing brain and behavior development. Previous work on the role of the maternal immune system has focused on pathogen-induced (i.e. viral or bacterial) immune insults which represent only one arm of the immune response. However, rates of viral and bacterial infection are low compared to the rising rate of ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders, suggesting that maternal infection cannot account for all cases. Conversely, asthma and allergy represent a separate branch of the immune system and rises in allergy/asthma in the US parallel rises in ASD.
Objectives: Develop an animal model to test the causal link between maternal allergic asthma and offspring brain and behavior development.
Methods: Mothers were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) by injection with emulsification of OVA and (Al)OH3 prior to pregnancy then repeatedly exposed to either aerosolized OVA or vehicle during gestation. Offspring were assessed for changes in ASD-relevant developmental, behavioral and neurobiological measures.
Results: Both male and female mice born to mothers exposed to aerosolized OVA during gestation exhibited altered developmental trajectories in weight and length, decreased sociability, and increased marble burying behavior. Moreover, offspring of OVA-exposed mothers were observed to have increased serotonin transporter protein levels in the cortex.
Conclusions: Behavioral and neurobiological alterations can be elicited following early fetal priming with maternal allergic asthma. These data provide support that maternal allergic asthma may, in some cases, be a contributing factor to neurodevelopmental disorders including ASD.
