Abstract
Increasing epidemiological evidence indicates that perinatal infection with various viral pathogens enhances the risk for several psychiatric disorders. The pathophysiological significance of astrocyte interactions with neurons and/or gut microbiomes has been reported in neurodevelopmental disorders triggered by pre- and postnatal immune insults. Recent studies with the maternal immune activation or neonatal polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid models of neurodevelopmental disorders have identified various candidate molecules that could be responsible for brain dysfunction. Here, we review the functions of several candidate molecules in neurodevelopment and brain function and discuss their potential as therapeutic targets for psychiatric disorders.
Highlights
Abnormalities in early brain development contribute to the etiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders in later life [1,2,3,4]
Several lines of epidemiological evidence suggest that prenatal infection and postnatal central nervous system (CNS) infection with various pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoan parasites enhance the risk for several neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia [10,11,12,13,14,15] and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [16,17]
According to observations in postmortem brains, morphological and functional abnormalities of astrocytes have been reported in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and schizophrenia [67,68,69], raising a possibility that astrocyte-secreted factors in these brains contributed to neurodevelopmental impairments
Summary
Abnormalities in early brain development contribute to the etiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders in later life [1,2,3,4]. Several lines of epidemiological evidence suggest that prenatal infection and postnatal central nervous system (CNS) infection with various pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoan parasites enhance the risk for several neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia [10,11,12,13,14,15] and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [16,17]. These findings indicate the possible interference in brain development triggered by perinatal immune activation. We discuss and review the potential therapeutic targets for drug discovery for neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and schizophrenia
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