Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40025041›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Disruption of tryptophan metabolism by high-fat diet-triggered maternal immune activation promotes social behavioral deficits in male mice.

Penghao Sun, Mengli Wang, Xuejun Chai, Yong-Xin Liu, Luqi Li, Wei Zheng, Shulin Chen, Xiaoyan Zhu, Shanting Zhao

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Penghao Sun *College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Mengli Wang *College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Xuejun ChaiCollege of Basic Medicine, Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. xchai@xiyi.edu.cn.
Yong-Xin LiuShenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1832-9835
Luqi LiLife Science Research Core Services, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Wei ZhengCollege of Resources and Environment Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Shulin ChenCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
Xiaoyan ZhuCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China. xyzhu0922@nwsuaf.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6967-8942
Shanting ZhaoCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China. zhaoshanting@nwsuaf.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2619-4467

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Diet-related maternal obesity has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders in progeny. Although the precise mechanisms and effective interventions remain uncertain, our research elucidates some of these complexities. We established that a prenatal high-fat diet triggered maternal immune activation (MIA), marked by elevated serum lipopolysaccharide levels and inflammatory-cytokine overproduction, which dysregulated the maternal tryptophan metabolism promoting the accumulation of neurotoxic kynurenine metabolites in the embryonic brain. Interventions aimed at mitigating MIA or blocking the kynurenine pathway effectively rescued the male mice social performance. Furthermore, excessive kynurenine metabolites initiated oxidative stress response causing neuronal migration deficits in the fetal neocortex, an effect that was mitigated by administering the glutathione synthesis precursor N-Acetylcysteine, underscoring the central role of maternal immune-metabolic homeostasis in male mice behavioral outcomes. Collectively, our study accentuated the profound influence of maternal diet-induced immuno-metabolic dysregulation on fetal brain development and provided the preventive strategies for addressing neurodevelopmental disorders.

Indexed as

Diet, High-FatPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsSocial BehaviorTryptophanAcetylcysteineAnimalsBehavior, AnimalBrainCytokinesFemaleKynurenineLipopolysaccharidesMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLOxidative StressAcetylcysteineCytokinesKynurenineLipopolysaccharidesTryptophan

Identifiers

PMID40025041
PMCPMC11873046

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.