• Hongen Wei, Susumu Mori, Kegang Hua, and Xiaohong Li.
• Central Laboratory, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Taiyuan, China. hongenwei@gmail.com
• Int. J. Dev. Neurosci. 2012 Nov 1;30(7):554-9.

AbstractAbnormal neuroimmune responses have been reported to be associated with autism and could be appropriate targets for pharmacologic intervention. Our previous studies showed that neuroimmune factor, interleukin (IL)-6, was significantly elevated in the fontal cortex and cerebellum of autistic subjects. The IL-6 overexpressing mice displayed several autism-like features as well as an abnormal dendritic spine morphology and synaptic function. The purpose of this study was to examine the volumetric differences in the brain of IL-6 overexpressing mice and compare with corresponding control mice using magnetic resonance imaging. Here we show that IL-6 overexpressing mice display an increase in the total brain volume. In addition, the lateral ventricle is also enlarged in the IL-6 overexpressing mice. The brain structures surrounding the lateral ventricle were squeezed and deformed from the normal location. These results indicate that IL-6 elevation in the brain could mediate neuroanatomical abnormalities. Taking together with our previous findings, a mechanism by which IL-6 may be involved in the pathogenesis of autism is proposed.Copyright © 2012 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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