Maternal immune activation during pregnancy alters early neurobehavioral development in nonhuman primate offspring

ABSTRACT Background Human epidemiologic studies have implicated exposure to infectious or inflammatory insults during gestation in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders. Rodent models of maternal immune activation (MIA) have identified the maternal immune response as the critical link between maternal infection and aberrant brain and behavior development in offspring. The nonhuman primate MIA model provides an opportunity to maximize the translational utility of this model in a species more closely related to humans. Methods Here we evaluate the effects of MIA on brain and behavioral development in the rhesus monkey ( Macaca mulatta ). A modified form of the viral mimic, Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PolyIC), was delivered to pregnant rhesus monkeys ( n =14) in the late first trimester to stimulate a maternal immune response. Control dams received saline injections at the same gestational time points ( n =10) or were untreated ( n =4). Results MIA-treated dams exhibited a strong immune response as indexed by transient increases in sickness behavior, temperature and inflammatory cytokines. MIA-exposed offspring developed species typical milestones and demonstrate subtle changes in early in social development. However, magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated significant gray matter volume reductions in prefrontal and frontal cortices at 6, 12 and 24 months of age. Conclusions These findings provide new insights into the emergence of neuropathology in MIA-exposed primates and have implications for the pathophysiology of human psychiatric disorders associated with maternal gestational infection.