Does Inducing an Immune Response in Mothers During Pregnancy Cause Anxiety and Depression in Offspring?

Cowden, Michaela

Does Inducing an Immune Response in Mothers During Pregnancy Cause Anxiety and Depression in Offspring?

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10456/41230

Author(s)

Cowden, Michaela

Date Issued

April 4, 2016

Abstract

The influenza virus in a pregnant female leads to elevated risk for psychological disorders in the offspring due to maternal immune response disrupting offspring development. In regard to psychological disorders, anxiety and depression are among the most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses. I tested the hypothesis that (1) pregnant females injected with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid in order to induce an immune response will produce offspring that exhibit anxious and/or depressed behavior and (2) treatment of said offspring with the anxiolytic benzodiazepine alprazolam, will reduce severity of anxious and/or depressed behaviors. A polyinosinic- polycytidylic acid injection was used to induce a flu-like maternal immune response in pregnant laboratory mice. Pre- and post- alprazolam treatment, an open field test was used to quantify mouse behavior via urination, fecal pellet count, activity levels, and sucrose anhedonia, which are behavioral indicators of anxiety and/or depression. High mortality rates and small litter sizes due to the acid injection were observed. The results of this experiment indicated a significant relationship between fecal pellet count, sucrose presence, and alprazolam treatment, but no significant effect of immune challenge in the offspring. However, there may be sex-specific effects, but no conclusive data was found due to small sample size. Expanding upon this experiment can lead to better understanding of the consequences of a maternal immune response during pregnancy, and how it affects offspring behavior, psychological function, and drug response mechanisms.

Major

Biology

Psychology

Honors

Psychology, 2016

First Reader(s)

Mumme, Ronald L.