Impact of maternal immune activation on maternal care behavior, offspring emotionality and intergenerational transmission in C3H/He mice

The impact of MIA on maternal care and its transmission to F1 females was previously observed in C57 mice was also found in C3H mice. Depression-like behavior in the adult offspring in C3H F1 and F2 females differed from reports of the C57 strain in the literature, suggesting a potential modulating role of the genetic background in the Poly(I:C) MIA mouse model. As the pattern of expression of selected candidate miRNAs in the F1 and F2 offspring hippocampus was not conserved between the two generations, it is unlikely to be a direct consequence of altered maternal care, or to be an immediate determinant of offspring emotionality.