Stress in Puberty Unmasks Latent Neuropathological Consequences of Prenatal Immune Activation in Mice.

The article discusses the risks of adult neuropsychiatric disease associated with prenatal maternal infection and peripubertal and pubertal stress and trauma, focusing on the synergistic effect of these factors on brain chemistry. The study induced a prenatal immune activation of a virus acute-phase response in mice translational models and introduced environmental stresses during pubertal maturation. Researchers found that the effect of both events led to an increase in anxiety behavior in adult mice, also noting changes in dopamine and serotonin levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), and hippocampus. The results suggest that the prenatal immune priming increases susceptibility to stress in puberty to increase risk of psychopathology in adulthood.