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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

Induction of Maternal Immune Activation in Mice at Mid-gestation Stage with Viral Mimic Poly(I:C)

Induction of Maternal Immune Activation in Mice at Mid-gestation Stage with Viral Mimic Poly(I:C)

Published on: March 25, 2016

Developmental neuroinflammation and schizophrenia.

¹Physiology and Behaviour Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Schorenstrasse 16, 8603 Schwerzenbach, Switzerland. urmeyer@ethz.ch

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry

|November 30, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Prenatal infection can trigger immune responses, leading to developmental neuroinflammation that may contribute to schizophrenia. Understanding these mechanisms could help prevent the disease in at-risk individuals.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Immunology
Psychiatry

Background:

Schizophrenia risk is linked to prenatal infection exposure.
The
prenatal cytokine hypothesis
suggests immune disruption of early brain development.
Animal models support the role of prenatal immune activation.

Purpose of the Study:

Explore how immune-mediated disruption of early brain development contributes to schizophrenia.
Investigate the role of developmental neuroinflammation in schizophrenia.
Identify potential targets for preventing schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

Review of epidemiological research.
Analysis of animal models of prenatal immune activation.
Examination of cytokine-associated inflammatory events, oxidative stress, hypoferremia, and zinc deficiency.

Main Results:

Prenatal infection can lead to cytokine-associated inflammation, oxidative stress, hypoferremia, and zinc deficiency.
Developmental neuroinflammation may persist beyond early life, contributing to schizophrenia progression.
Prenatal immune challenges prime inflammatory systems, disrupting neuronal development and maturation.

Conclusions:

Developmental neuroinflammation plays a role in schizophrenia's progressive brain changes.
Mechanisms of developmental neuroinflammation offer potential targets for intervention.
Preventing schizophrenia may be possible in individuals with prenatal complications.