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Basic information |
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Cesarean section delivery is a risk factor of autism-related behaviors in mice.
Masatoshi Nagano,Fumihito Saitow,Shinpei Higo,Makoto Uzuki,Yasunori Mikahara,Toshio Akimoto,Hitoshi Ozawa,Katsuhiko Nishimori,Hidenori Suzuki
Research paper (scientific journal)
10.1038/s41598-021-88437-8
Cesarean section (C/S) is one way of delivering babies, and is chosen when mothers or babies are facing problems or life-threatening conditions during pregnancy. Many meta-analyses have suggested an etiological relationship between C/S delivery and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, as a risk factor for ASDs, C/S delivery has not yet been well studied. Because C/S deliveries have been increasing, it is very important to investigate the causal association between C/S and ASDs. Here, using three approaches, we showed experimentally that C/S delivery induced ASD-like traits in offspring mice, and that some of these changes were ameliorated by one-time oxytocin (OXT) treatment. Treatment with OXT receptor antagonists before natural delivery also induced ASD-related behaviors. Moreover, wild-type mice born to OXT-KO dams showed similar changes. Thus, insufficient OXT exposure from dams to offspring during delivery may be a trigger for ASD-related behaviors.
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