Maternal inflammation during pregnancy and offspring brain development: the role of mitochondria

The association between maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy and risk for offspring neuropsychiatric disorders has been increasingly recognized over the past several years. Among the mechanistic pathways that have been described through which maternal inflammation during pregnancy may affect fetal brain development, the role of mitochondria has received little attention. In the current review the role of mitochondria as a potential mediator of the association between MIA during pregnancy and offspring brain development and risk for psychiatric disorders will be proposed. As a basis for this postulation convergent evidence is presented supporting the obligatory role of mitochondria in brain development, the role of mitochondria as mediators and initiators of inflammatory processes, and evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in pre-clinical MIA exposure models and human neurodevelopmental disorders. Elucidating the role of mitochondria as a potential mediator of MIA-induced alterations in brain development and neurodevelopmental disease risk may not only provide new insight into the pathophysiology of mental health disorders that have their origins in exposure to infection/immune activation during pregnancy but may also offer new therapeutic targets.