Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors
Maternal immune activation (MIA)—infection with an immunogen during pregnancy—is linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in offspring. Both MIA and NDDs are associated with developmental delays in offsprings’ motor behavior. Therefore, the current study examined the effect...
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2025-02-01
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| author | Mary Beth Hall Elise A. Lemanski Jaclyn M. Schwarz |
| author_facet | Mary Beth Hall Elise A. Lemanski Jaclyn M. Schwarz |
| author_sort | Mary Beth Hall |
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| description | Maternal immune activation (MIA)—infection with an immunogen during pregnancy—is linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in offspring. Both MIA and NDDs are associated with developmental delays in offsprings’ motor behavior. Therefore, the current study examined the effects of MIA on neonatal reflex development in male and female offspring. Sprague Dawley rats were administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 μg/mL/kg, i.p.) or saline on embryonic day (E)15 of gestation. The offspring were then tested daily from postnatal day (P)3–P21 to determine their neonatal reflex abilities. The maternal care behaviors of the dam were also quantified on P1–P5, P10, and P15. We found that, regardless of sex, the E15 LPS offspring were able to forelimb grasp, cliff avoid, and right with a correct posture at an earlier postnatal age than the E15 saline offspring did. The E15 LPS offspring also showed better performance of forelimb grasping, hindlimb grasping, righting with correct posture, and walking with correct posture than the E15 saline offspring did. There were no significant differences in maternal licking/grooming, arched-back nursing, non-arched-back nursing, or total nursing across the E15 groups. Overall, these findings suggest that MIA with LPS on E15 accelerates reflex development in offspring without affecting maternal care. This may be explained by the stress acceleration hypothesis, whereby early-life stress accelerates development to promote survival. |
| format | Article |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-01ddfaed2f114dec8f1cff87bbbfb2342025-08-20T02:42:39ZengMDPI AGBiomolecules2218-273X2025-02-0115334710.3390/biom15030347Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care BehaviorsMary Beth Hall0Elise A. Lemanski1Jaclyn M. Schwarz2Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USADepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USADepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USAMaternal immune activation (MIA)—infection with an immunogen during pregnancy—is linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in offspring. Both MIA and NDDs are associated with developmental delays in offsprings’ motor behavior. Therefore, the current study examined the effects of MIA on neonatal reflex development in male and female offspring. Sprague Dawley rats were administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 μg/mL/kg, i.p.) or saline on embryonic day (E)15 of gestation. The offspring were then tested daily from postnatal day (P)3–P21 to determine their neonatal reflex abilities. The maternal care behaviors of the dam were also quantified on P1–P5, P10, and P15. We found that, regardless of sex, the E15 LPS offspring were able to forelimb grasp, cliff avoid, and right with a correct posture at an earlier postnatal age than the E15 saline offspring did. The E15 LPS offspring also showed better performance of forelimb grasping, hindlimb grasping, righting with correct posture, and walking with correct posture than the E15 saline offspring did. There were no significant differences in maternal licking/grooming, arched-back nursing, non-arched-back nursing, or total nursing across the E15 groups. Overall, these findings suggest that MIA with LPS on E15 accelerates reflex development in offspring without affecting maternal care. This may be explained by the stress acceleration hypothesis, whereby early-life stress accelerates development to promote survival.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/3/347maternal immune activationneurodevelopmental disorderslipopolysaccharideneonatal reflex developmentmaternal care |
| spellingShingle | Mary Beth Hall Elise A. Lemanski Jaclyn M. Schwarz Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors Biomolecules maternal immune activation neurodevelopmental disorders lipopolysaccharide neonatal reflex development maternal care |
| title | Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors |
| title_full | Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors |
| title_fullStr | Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors |
| title_short | Prenatal Maternal Immune Activation with Lipopolysaccharide Accelerates the Developmental Acquisition of Neonatal Reflexes in Rat Offspring Without Affecting Maternal Care Behaviors |
| title_sort | prenatal maternal immune activation with lipopolysaccharide accelerates the developmental acquisition of neonatal reflexes in rat offspring without affecting maternal care behaviors |
| topic | maternal immune activation neurodevelopmental disorders lipopolysaccharide neonatal reflex development maternal care |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/15/3/347 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marybethhall prenatalmaternalimmuneactivationwithlipopolysaccharideacceleratesthedevelopmentalacquisitionofneonatalreflexesinratoffspringwithoutaffectingmaternalcarebehaviors AT elisealemanski prenatalmaternalimmuneactivationwithlipopolysaccharideacceleratesthedevelopmentalacquisitionofneonatalreflexesinratoffspringwithoutaffectingmaternalcarebehaviors AT jaclynmschwarz prenatalmaternalimmuneactivationwithlipopolysaccharideacceleratesthedevelopmentalacquisitionofneonatalreflexesinratoffspringwithoutaffectingmaternalcarebehaviors |