PhD Scientific Days 2025

Budapest, 7-9 July 2025

Poster Session I. - Q: Neurosciences

Sex-specific Long-term Behavioural and Neuroimmunological Consequences of Perinatal Brain Injury

Előadó neve

Dr. Kelemen Hanga

Neptun code

LDCH7F

Előadó munkahelye

HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine, Semmelweis University

Előadó telefonszáma

+36705948234

Előadó e-mail címe

hanga_kelemen@yahoo.com

Az előadás címe

Sex-specific Long-term Behavioural and Neuroimmunological Consequences of Perinatal Brain Injury

Szerző(k) neve és munkahelye

Hanga Kelemen1,2, András Buzás-Kaizler1,2, Gyula Balla1,2, Kornél Demeter1, Zsolt Borhegyi1, Éva Mikics1

1: HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine
2: Semmelweis University

Bemutatás módja

Poszter

Szekció

Poster Session I. - Q: Neurosciences

Language of the presentation

Hungarian

Preferred session

Neurosciences

Összefoglaló szövege

Perinatal systemic inflammation and asphyxia (ASX) are major risk factors of neuropsychiatric disorders, often showing sex-specific outcomes - cognitive deficits more common in males and altered emotional processing in females. When these two conditions co-occur, they exacerbate clinical outcomes, suggesting shared pathophysiology. However, how prior inflammation sensitizes the brain to ASX remains unclear due to a lack of translational models. In this study, we examined the long-term behavioural and neuroimmune consequences of mild to moderate ASX in inflammation-sensitized C75BL/6 mice of both sexes.
Pups received s.c. IL-1β between postnatal days 2-6, followed by a non-invasive ASX insult on day 7. A comprehensive behavioural battery was conducted in young adulthood, followed by whole-brain microglial density mapping to determine neuroimmune alterations.
Behavioural testing revealed a significant phenotype shift of ASX+IL-1 males compared to controls, affecting domains of specific higher-order functions, including impulse control, emotional, and cognitive processing. In contrast, ASX+IL-1 females exhibited more subtle behavioural alterations, primarily characterized by disruptions in emotional regulation (heightened anxiety and passive stress coping). Whole-brain microglia density analysis revealed regional increase in ASX+IL-1 males, particularly in areas associated with the noted behavioural changes (e.g., mediodorsal thalamus, nucleus reuniens, basolateral amygdala). Females also exhibited neuroimmune alterations, notably in emotional regulation hubs like the infralimbic cortex and nucleus accumbens, despite milder behavioural symptoms.
These results demonstrate that early-life systemic inflammation significantly increases ASX vulnerability, leading to persistent, sex-specific behavioural deficits analogous to clinical outcomes. Accordingly, brain regions involved in higher-order processing show particular vulnerability to early-life injury and present lasting neuroimmune alterations. Our findings underline the translational utility of our preclinical model in elucidating the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of perinatal brain injuries that contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders.
National Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience (Grant #RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00011) and National Research, Development, and Innovation Office (Grant #K135292).

University

Semmelweis University

Supervisor

Dr. Mikics Éva

Publication of my abstract

I give consent to the publication of my abstract on the website of the congress.

phd.section.field

in doctoral studies after complex exam (PhD)

Kind

Szabad

Status

elfogadva

Accepted presentation method

poszter

Előadás fájl jóváhagyás

nem rendelkezett róla

Előadó

6909

Start

16:36

End

16:42