key: cord-0792619-gnuly2ho
authors: Martins-Filho, Paulo Ricardo; Tanajura, Diego Moura; Santos, Hudson P.; Santos, Victor Santana
title: COVID-19 during pregnancy: Potential risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in neonates?
date: 2020-05-11
journal: Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2020.05.015
sha: 6ffd12b6ff09ee2056e50d90c583561b2923003b
doc_id: 792619
cord_uid: gnuly2ho

nan

Paulo Ricardo Martins-Filho, PhD 1 Diego Moura Tanajura, PhD 1 Hudson P. Santos Jr., PhD 2 Victor Santana Santos, PhD 3 There is growing evidence that prenatal infection and enhanced expression of cytokines are associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ) in the offspring. Maternal immune activation appears to act as a "neurodevelopmental disease primer" increasing the susceptibility of individuals to the epigenetic alterations and environmental exposures that can interact in triggering disease-related symptoms later in life [4] . IL-6 has been treated as an indicator of maternal systemic inflammation with potential to influence placental-fetal interactions and subsequently fetal brain development and increased risk of offspring psychiatric disorders.

Although the role of IL-6 in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders is not fully understood, a longitudinal study showed alterations in brain architecture, executive function, and working memory abilities in neonates at 2 years of age exposed to increased levels of IL-6 during pregnancy [5] . In addition, it has been found that maternal IL-6 is inversely associated with offspring cognition at 12-months age, which strengthen the assumption that maternal inflammation may constitute an intrauterine condition of particular importance in the context of potentially neuropsychiatric disorders [6] . Therefore, it is reasonable to hypothesize that cytokine storm and hyperinflammation found in pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection may increase the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in the neonates. Urgent research agenda should include assessment of inflammatory levels in pregnant women with COVID-19 and longitudinal evaluation of offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes.

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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection During Pregnancy In China: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Maternal immune activation: implications for neuropsychiatric disorders

Maternal IL-6 during pregnancy can be estimated from newborn brain connectivity and predicts future working memory in offspring

Maternal Interleukin-6 concentration during pregnancy is associated J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f with variation in frontolimbic white matter and cognitive development in early life

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.