The role of glucocorticoid, interleukin-1 beta, and antioxidants in prenatal stress effects on embryonic microglia

Maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of psychopathology in offspring. Resident immune cells of the brain, microglia, may be mediators of prenatal stress and altered neurodevelopment. Here, we demonstrate that neither the exogenous pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), nor the glucocorticoid hormone, corticosterone, recapitulated the full effects of prenatal stress on the morphology of microglial cells in the cortical plate of embryonic mice; IL-1 beta effects showed greater similarity to prenatal stress effects on microglia. Unexpectedly, oil vehicle alone, which has antioxidant properties, moderated the effects of prenatal stress on microglia. Microglia changes with prenatal stress were also sensitive to the antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine, suggesting redox dysregulation as a mechanism of prenatal stress.