Induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in activated microglia and astrocytes following pre- and postnatal immune challenge in an animal model of schizophrenia.

In the central nervous system, activated microglia and astrocytes produce proinflammatory mediators such as inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) and cytokines. Uncontrolled release of these mediators induced by immune challenge can lead to increased vulnerability to complex brain disorders such as schizophrenia. In this study, BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally (i.p) with the viral mimetic polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidilic acid (poly(I:C)) or saline. At postnatal day 30 (PND0), the animals were sacrificed and the hippocampus, corpus callosum, striatum, cortex, fimbria and ventricle were immunostained for Iba-1, a microglial marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), an astrocyte marker, and iNOS, an activation marker for NO. Additionally, serum cytokine profiling (Interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL- 4, IL-6, interferon gamma (IFN-γ), tumour necrosis factor (TNF), IL-17A and IL-10) was determined using serum samples from poly(I:C)-treated and control mice. Our results demonstrated that poly(I:C) induced overactivation of differential proinflammatory responses in microglia and astrocytes, which could be strongly enhanced by a postnatal poly(I:C) administration before PND 30 in one part of the animals investigated. Specifically, there was significant iNOS upregulation in hippocampus, cortex and corpus callosum of poly(I:C)-affected off-springs. These inflammatory alterations were accompanied by increased circulating levels of the proinflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). This study provides insight into the role of microglia and astrocytes in an animal model of schizophrenia and an understanding of the regulation of iNOS expression in glial cells and cytokine networks. This knowledge could help identify novel targets for anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory therapeutic schizophrenia intervention.