Microglia determine an immune-challenged environment and facilitate ibuprofen action in human retinal organoids.

A preprint abstract from biorxiv.org discusses the potential risks of prenatal immune challenges on human embryonic brain and eye development. The study focuses on the use of anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy and the role of microglia, a type of immune cell, in this context. The researchers used human induced pluripotent stem cells to generate microglia precursor cells and incorporated them into retinal organoids. They found that the presence of microglia influenced the development of ganglion cells and the inflammatory response in the organoids. Additionally, exposure to the immunostimulant poly(I:C) altered the phenotype of microglia, but this effect was mitigated by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. The study highlights the importance of microglia in prenatal immune challenges and provides insights into the protective effects of ibuprofen during embryonic development. [Extracted from the article]