Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42113711›Full record

ArticleDevelopmental neuroscience2026

Maternal Infection Induces Neuronal Structure and Behavioural Alterations in Experimental Meningitis Rat Model.

Jayakumar Thejaswini, Veerakalyana Kumar Negetha, Koilmani Emmanuvel Rajan

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Article in Developmental neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Jayakumar ThejaswiniBehavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India.
Veerakalyana Kumar NegethaBehavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India.
Koilmani Emmanuvel RajanBehavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India, emmanuvel1972@yahoo.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMaternal infection (MI) can result in significant neurodevelopmental abnormalities and long-term neurological sequelae in offspring. This study was designed to investigate MI-induced alterations in synaptic protein expression, axonal morphology, dendritic, and spine morphology, and behaviour in a neonatal rat model of bacterial meningitis.

methodsOn gestational day 10, pregnant rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) control (Ctrl), (2) MI (pregnant rats were infected with Cronobacter sakazakii by rectovaginal colonization), (3) MI +matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor (MI+MMPI) (C. sakazakii infected pregnant rats received a MMP-9 inhibitor). Male offspring from experimental groups were examined in the novel odor recognition (NOR) test on postnatal day (PND) 15 and the tail suspension test (TST) on PND-60.

resultsOffspring from the MI group were impaired in NOR and exhibited depressive behaviour during TST, whereas MI+MMPI group responses were comparable to the Ctrl group. In addition, MI upregulated the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), MMP-9, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in their offspring. In turn, MI downregulating Na+/K+-ATPase activity, postsynaptic density protein (PSD)-95, and multiple ankyrin repeat domain protein (SHANK3) altered the conversion of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor precursor to mature (mBDNF). Further, MI induced bending and shortening of pyramidal neuronal axon length, reduced dendritic branching complexity, and alerted dendritic and spine morphology. Treatment with MMPI minimized these MI-induced effects.

conclusionMI can cause microstructural rearrangements in the developing brain and behavioural deficits. Our experimental model mimics the neurological sequelae of neonatal meningitis and could be useful for developing therapeutic strategies.

Indexed as

Axonal bendingCronobacter sakazakiiDendritic and spine morphologyMaternal infectionMatrix metalloproteinase inhibitorNeonatal meningitis

Identifiers

PMID42113711
PMCPMC13160508

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.