Effects of valproic acid on the postnatal brain

KAZLAUSKAS N; CAMPOLONGO M; LUCCHINA L; DEPINO A

Huerta Grande

Congreso; XXVII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2012

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

Prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA) can be used in mice as a model of autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impediments in social interaction and by stereotyped or restrictive behaviors. Typically, these symptoms appear during the first years of childhood. Previous studies have shown a link between autism and neuroinflammation, so we hypothesized that central inflammatory processes and glial activation in particular could be responsible for the behavioral phenotype. In line with this, we found an activated glial state in the cerebellum and the hippocampus of adult VPA mice. The aim of this work is to identify the specific time window when inflammation appears in the VPA postnatal brain and to study the correlation with the behavioral effects that we observe. We are characterizing the astro and microglial state in the early postnatal period (from P7 to P42) by means of immunohistochemical analysis. Additionally, we will evaluate the inflammatory response by measuring corticosterone levels after an LPS challenge. The identification of a critical window when inflammation is altered in VPA mice will allow us to test the specific hypothesis of whether modulating inflammation during the postnatal period can revert the prenatal effects of VPA on social behavior.