BACKGROUND:

Prenatal infection is a substantial risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism in offspring. We have previously reported that influenza vaccination (VAC) during early pregnancy contributes to neurogenesis and behavioral function in offspring.

RESULTS:

Here, we probe the efficacy of VAC pretreatment on autism-like behaviors in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced maternal immune activation (MIA) mouse model. We show that VAC improves abnormal fetal brain cytoarchitecture and lamination, an effect associated with promotion of intermediate progenitor cell differentiation in MIA fetal brain. These beneficial effects are sufficient to prevent social deficits in adult MIA offspring. Furthermore, whole-genome analysis suggests a strong interaction between Ikzf1 (IKAROS family zinc-finger 1) and neuronal differentiation. Intriguingly, VAC rescues excessive microglial Ikzf1 expression and attenuates microglial inflammatory responses in the MIA fetal brain.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our study implies that a preprocessed influenza vaccination prevents maternal bacterial infection from causing neocortical lamination impairments and autism-related behaviors in offspring.