Microglia and Neuroimmune Alterations during the Peripartum Period

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2016-05

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

The transition into motherhood is a period of drastic biological changes, especially within the brain and the peripheral immune system. Central adaptations have been documented in multiple cell types, such as neurons and astrocytes. While these changes have been studied quite thoroughly, peripartum alterations of microglia, the resident macrophage of the central nervous system, have not been documented. Our results show that late pregnancy (gestation day 20) and the early postpartum period (postpartum day (PD) 1 and PD8) are accompanied by a significant reduction in microglial density and total microglia number in various brain regions including the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC), medial prefrontal cortex, basolateral amygdala and the nucleus accumbens. Additional analyses focusing on the dHPC of postpartum females on PD8 found this effect was not driven by a particular morphological type of microglia. Further analyses showed that microglia proliferation, but not apoptosis, was significantly reduced within the postpartum dHPC. Lastly, hippocampal concentrations of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-6 were increased on PD8. Together, these novel results show that there are adaptations within the central neuroimmune environment during the peripartum period. Both microglial alterations and motherhood are known to be associated with mood disorders, and these findings may help explain the onset of such disorders and other neuropsychiatric conditions during this sensitive period.

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1st Place, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 21st Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, 2016
Oral Symposium Distinction, 2nd Place, mGluRs Conference 2015, The Ohio State University

Keywords

microglia, peripartum, neuroimmune

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