Gut-Brain Connection in Autism

HMS News article on new research from the labs of Gloria Choi (MIT) and Jun Huh (Harvard Medical School), co-first authors Eunha Kim and Donggi Paik, suggesting that infections during pregnancy can lead to high levels of the inflammatory signaling molecule interleukin-17a (IL-17a), which can not only affect brain development in the fetus, but also alter the maternal microbiome in a way that primes the newborn’s immune system for future inflammatory attacks.

See original research article in Immunity.