Journal article

Microglial activation and increased microglial density observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in autism

JT Morgan, G Chana, CA Pardo, C Achim, K Semendeferi, J Buckwalter, E Courchesne, IP Everall

Biological Psychiatry | Published : 2010

Abstract

Background: In the neurodevelopmental disorder autism, several neuroimmune abnormalities have been reported. However, it is unknown whether microglial somal volume or density are altered in the cortex and whether any alteration is associated with age or other potential covariates. Methods: Microglia in sections from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of nonmacrencephalic male cases with autism (n = 13) and control cases (n = 9) were visualized via ionized calcium binding adapter molecule 1 immunohistochemistry. In addition to a neuropathological assessment, microglial cell density was stereologically estimated via optical fractionator and average somal volume was quantified via isotropic nuc..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development


Funding Acknowledgements

Support for this work was provided by the Cure Autism Now Foundation, the Peter Emch Foundation, Autism Speaks, the Simons Foundation, the Swartz Foundation, the San Diego Thursday Club juniors, and the Chancellor's Interdisciplinary Collaboratory Scholarship and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego.Tissue for this work was provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders (Baltimore, Maryland) under National Institute of Child Health and Human Development contract no. HHSN275200900011C, Ref No. NO1-HD-9-0011, the Autism Tissue Program (Princeton, New Jersey), the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Belmont, Massachusetts), the Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders (Miami, Florida), and University of California San Diego Lifesharing (San Diego, California).