A new study done by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NYU Langone Medical Center and the University of Colorado, Boulder, reveals that acquiring a viral infection during pregnancy could cause behaviors almost that of Autism Spectrum Behavior (ASD) to the unborn child. The Science Journal published this research on Jan. 28.
An article on Science 2.0 said that the team responsible for such findings discovered it by observing what happened to a pregnant mouse. They saw that a particular viral infection has altered the brain formation of the mouse's offspring that resulted to some changes in their attitude and overall behavior. Scientists noticed those changes were the same with children who have ASD.
This is not the first time that a study was made indicating that a viral infection during pregnancy could effect the brain of an unborn child. The Medical News reported that there have been many studies related to this risk where a child could develop ASD.
They used a mouse as a model to determine how ASD could happen to a child once the immune system was affected during pregnancy. They saw the results, but they have no explanation for its root because they have yet to find out the mechanisms in humans behind their findings.
They may have not found it in humans, but they did find the mechanism in a pregnant mouse. Apparently, the high number of a cytokine known as the interleukin-17a with T cells aka the Th17, was the reason behind the inflammation or infection that happened to a mother mouse. And with that, the offspring experiences symptoms that resemble ASD in humans.
Based on this research, a pregnant mother needs to keep herself healthy and away from anything that would affect her immune system to deliver a healthy baby.
