Maternal Immune Activation Alters Fetal Brain Development through Interleukin-6

Schizophrenia and autism are thought to result from the interaction between a susceptibility genotype and environmental risk factors…. The identification of IL-6 as a key intermediary should aid in the molecular dissection of the pathways whereby MIA alters fetal brain development, which can shed new light on the pathophysiological mechanisms that predispose to schizophrenia and autism.

Abstract. The Journal of Neuroscience: The official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2007; 27(40):10695-702