Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2021 Apr 26;11(1):8883. doi: 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.
剖宫产（C/S）是一种分娩方式，当母亲或婴儿在怀孕期间面临问题或危及生命的情况时，会选择这种方式。许多荟萃分析表明，C/S 分娩与自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）之间存在病因关系。然而，作为 ASD 的一个风险因素，C/S 分娩尚未得到充分研究。由于 C/S 分娩的数量不断增加，因此非常有必要研究 C/S 与 ASD 之间的因果关系。在这里，我们使用三种方法实验证明 C/S 分娩会导致后代小鼠出现 ASD 样特征，并且一次性催产素（OXT）处理可以改善其中一些变化。在自然分娩前用 OXT 受体拮抗剂处理也会引起与 ASD 相关的行为。此外，由 OXT-KO 母鼠所生的野生型小鼠也表现出类似的变化。因此，分娩期间来自母体的 OXT 暴露不足可能是引发 ASD 相关行为的一个因素。
