ovalbumin and Growth-Disorders

The state of the mother's immune system during pregnancy has an important role in fetal development and disruptions in the balance of this system are associated with a range of neurologic, neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Epidemiological and clinical reports reveal various clues that suggest a possible association between developmental neuropsychiatric disorders and family history of immune system dysfunction. Over the past three decades, analogous increases have been reported in both the incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders and immune-related disorders, particularly allergy and asthma, raising the question of whether allergic asthma and characteristics of various neurodevelopmental disorders share common causal links. We used a mouse model of maternal allergic asthma to test this novel hypothesis that early fetal priming with an allergenic exposure during gestation produces behavioral deficits in offspring. Mothers were primed with an exposure to ovalbumin (OVA) before pregnancy, then exposed to either aerosolized OVA or vehicle during gestation. Both male and female mice born to mothers exposed to aerosolized OVA during gestation exhibited altered developmental trajectories in weight and length, decreased sociability and increased marble-burying behavior. Moreover, offspring of OVA-exposed mothers were observed to have increased serotonin transporter protein levels in the cortex. These data demonstrate that behavioral and neurobiological effects can be elicited following early fetal priming with maternal allergic asthma and provide support that maternal allergic asthma may, in some cases, be a contributing factor to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Topics: Animals; Asthma; Behavior, Animal; Blotting, Western; Cerebral Cortex; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Growth Disorders; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mothers; Ovalbumin; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins

The effects of chronic antigen feeding on systemically sensitized rats were investigated. Findings include a reduction of water and antigen intake in egg albumin (EA), sensitized rats receiving EA in their drinking water for an 8 day period, compared to that of sensitized rats fed bovine serum albumin and of naive rats. Feeding EA to sensitized animals also induced a decrease in daily weight gain. This decline did not seem to be a consequence of a decreased food intake, but might rather reflect a decreased water consumption and an alteration of nutrient absorption in the gut. Indeed, sensitized rats fed EA exhibited a significant increase in jejunal and ileal histamine content compared to control rats, which may indicate the development of an inflammatory reaction in the small intestinal mucosa. Intestinal troubles experienced because of this inflammatory reaction might explain the reduction of antigen and water intake observed in sensitized rats.

Topics: Animals; Eating; Growth Disorders; Histamine Release; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Intestinal Mucosa; Male; Ovalbumin; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Reference Values; Serum Albumin, Bovine; Weight Gain