Vacher Claire-Marie, Tsompanidis Alex, Firestein Morgan R, Penn Anna A
Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2025 Jul;37(7):e13489. doi: 10.1111/jne.13489. Epub 2025 Jan 9.
The placenta is a fetal endocrine organ that secretes many neuroactive factors, including steroids, that play critical roles in brain development. The study of the placenta-brain axis and the links between placental function and brain development represents an emerging research area dubbed "neuroplacentology." The placenta drives many circulating fetal steroids to very high levels during gestation. Recent studies have highlighted the critical role of placental steroids in shaping specific brain structures and behaviors. This review uses a cross-species framework to discuss the genomic factors, in-utero environmental changes, and placental conditions that alter placental steroidogenesis, leading to changes in early developmental trajectories relevant for psychiatric conditions such as autism, in a sex-linked manner.
胎盘是一种胎儿内分泌器官，可分泌多种神经活性因子，包括类固醇，这些因子在大脑发育中起着关键作用。胎盘-脑轴以及胎盘功能与大脑发育之间联系的研究代表了一个新兴的研究领域，被称为“神经胎盘学”。在妊娠期间，胎盘会将许多循环中的胎儿类固醇提升至非常高的水平。最近的研究突出了胎盘类固醇在塑造特定脑结构和行为方面的关键作用。本综述采用跨物种框架来讨论基因组因素、子宫内环境变化以及胎盘状况，这些因素会改变胎盘类固醇生成，以性别关联的方式导致与自闭症等精神疾病相关的早期发育轨迹发生变化。
