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Updated: May 22, 2026

Generating a Reproducible Model of Mid-Gestational Maternal Immune Activation using Poly(I:C) to Study Susceptibility and Resilience in Offspring
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Generating a Reproducible Model of Mid-Gestational Maternal Immune Activation using Poly(I:C) to Study Susceptibility and Resilience in Offspring

Published on: August 17, 2022

Early maternal separation leads to down-regulation of cytokine gene expression

J J Dimatelis1, N S Pillay, A K Mutyaba

  • 1Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory 7925, Cape Town, South Africa. jacqueline.dimatelis@uct.ac.za

Metabolic Brain Disease
|April 25, 2012
PubMed

Exposure to stressors may lead to subsequent alterations in the immune response. The precise mechanisms underlying such vulnerability are poorly understood, but may be hypothesized to include changes in cytokine systems. Maternal separation was used as a model of exposure to early life stressors. Subsequent cytokine gene expression was studied using a cytokine gene expression array. Maternal separation resulted in significant down-regulation of the expression of 6 cytokine genes; chemokine ligand 7, chemokine receptor 4, interleukin 10, interleukin-1beta, interleukin 5 receptor alpha and integrin alpha M. Specific cytokines may be involved in mediating the effects of early adversity on subsequent immunosuppression. Further work is needed to delineate fully the relationship between early adversity, immune alterations, and behavioural changes.

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