Host: The Japanese Society of Toxicology
Name : The 50th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Toxicology
Date : June 19, 2023 - June 21, 2023
Recently, over 100,000 of chemicals are industrially produced and widely used in medical and industrial fields, and even our daily life. However, several types of chemicals can cause behavioral abnormalities after growth due to exposure during the developmental period from fetal to infancy. Taking an antiepileptic drug, valproic acid during pregnancy reportedly reduces intelligence quotient and increases autism risk in children after growth. Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls causes postnatal memory and learning deficits and abnormal social behavior. Some heavy metals and pesticides are also recognized to have similar effects. Microglia, immune cells in the brain, selectively engulf unnecessary synapses during development to enhance the maturation of neural networks. On the other hand, excessive activation of microglia is considered to induce neuroinflammation and act destructively on the central nervous system. Recently, the relationship between abnormal microglial activity and neurological and psychiatric disorders has been actively discussed, and various chemicals such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were reported to activate microglia. In this presentation, I will show the results focusing on the interaction of activated microglia and neural network defects caused by prenatal valproic acid exposure, and also introduce the neurological effects of a pesticide neonicotinoid, and an air pollutant. PM2.5 when espousing to them during development.
