Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Generating a Reproducible Model of Mid-Gestational Maternal Immune Activation using Poly(I:C) to Study Susceptibility and Resilience in Offspring
09:09

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

Prenatal immune activation and subsequent peripubertal stress as a new model of schizophrenia

Noriko Yoshimi1, Takashi Futamura, Kenji Hashimoto

  • 1Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan.

Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics
|August 1, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Maternal viral infections during pregnancy can increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. A new model combines prenatal immune activation with peripubertal stress to study schizophrenia development.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Immunology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Epidemiological studies link maternal viral infections during pregnancy to neurodevelopmental disorders like schizophrenia and autism.
  • Prenatal maternal immune activation and peripubertal psychological stress are identified as critical environmental risk factors.
  • Polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid (a viral mimic and Toll-like receptor-3 agonist) is commonly used to model prenatal immune activation in rodents.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To contextualize and discuss the significance of a novel neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia.
  • This model combines prenatal immune activation with peripubertal stress.

Main Methods:

  • Review and contextualization of recent findings on a combined prenatal immune activation and peripubertal stress model.
  • Discussion of the established rodent model using polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid for prenatal immune activation.

Main Results:

  • Highlights a new model for studying schizophrenia that integrates two key environmental risk factors: prenatal immune activation and peripubertal stress.
  • Emphasizes the role of polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidylic acid in modeling prenatal immune activation.

Conclusions:

  • The combined model offers a significant advancement in understanding the etiology of schizophrenia.
  • Further research into this model can elucidate the complex interplay of prenatal and developmental factors in neurodevelopmental disorders.

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