Early somatic and sensorimotor development of the offspring of mice administered with complete Freund’s adjuvant before pregnancy

Abstract

Introduction. Freund’s complete adjuvant is used for modeling autoimmune diseases in animals. The adjuvant effect is related with the activation of humoral and cellular immunity. Exposure of mice to complete Freund’s adjuvant during pregnancy can induce immune activation and affect the development of the offspring. The aim of this work was to study the effect of female mouse immunization with complete Freund’s adjuvant before pregnancy on the somatic maturation and sensorimotor development of their offspring in the first three weeks after birth. Methods. Female ICR mice were subjected to a single immunization with complete Freund’s adjuvant and a triple booster immunization with incomplete Freund’s adjuvant. With this protocol, complete Freund’s adjuvant provided the major immunostimulatory effect and did not cause complications observed in reimmunization with this adjuvant. Offspring of the immunized animals was tested in a developmental test battery during a three-week nesting period, including the assessment of somatic and sensorimotor development. Results. Immunization of female mice caused a delay in the somatic and sensorimotor development of their offspring. Disorders of the somatic maturation were detected starting from the 3rd day of postnatal development and were observed throughout the entire testing period of 21 days. Sensorimotor disturbances ranged from the simplest coordination of the forelimb fingers on the 3rd day of development to the most complex ones, during descent along a vertical rope and passing along an elevated bar, at the end of the nesting period. Conclusion. The results of this study should be taken into account in modeling autoimmune processes in animals during pregnancy with Freund’s adjuvants.