Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40883541›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination during pregnancy enhances offspring hippocampal neurogenesis and working memory via IFN-γ-responsive microglia.

Jiaoling Tang, Fangfang Qi, Juntao Zou, Hao Liu, Zejie Zuo, Lingxiao Wang, Na Wang, Zhihui Li, Ashutosh Kumar, Kaihua Guo and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

12 authors.

Jiaoling Tang *Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Fangfang Qi *Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. qi.fangfang@mayo.edu.
Juntao Zou *Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Hao LiuDepartment of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Zejie ZuoDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Lingxiao WangDepartment of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Na WangDepartment of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Zhihui LiDepartment of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Ashutosh KumarDepartment of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, India.
Kaihua GuoDepartment of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. guokh@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Dandan HuChildren's Health Section, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. guohdd@126.com.
Zhibin YaoDepartment of Anatomy and Physiology, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. yao.zb@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1613-9157

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 82271473;81971021
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In the face of severe outcomes from COVID-19, vaccines have proven immunogenic and safe and are strongly recommended during pregnancy. This study examines the effects of maternal COVID-19 vaccination on physical development, behavior, and neurogenesis in mouse offspring. After inoculation with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Vero Cell) at gestational day 14.5, antibodies were detected in the serum of dams and pups. At one month of age, offspring of vaccinated dams-but not controls-showed enhanced working memory, increased neural proliferation, neuroblast formation, stem cell activity, and more mature neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG). Luminex assay showed elevated hippocampal IFN-γ and CX3CL1, both linked to neurogenesis and memory. Conditional knockout experiments identified microglial IFNγR1 and CX3CR1 as key mediators of neuronal development through regulating microglial activation and chemotaxis. These findings suggest maternal SARS-CoV-2 vaccination transiently enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and working memory in offspring, without causing neurodevelopmental risk.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesHippocampusInterferon-gammaMemory, Short-TermMicrogliaNeurogenesisSARS-CoV-2AnimalsCX3C Chemokine Receptor 1FemaleInterferon gamma ReceptorMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMice, KnockoutCOVID-19 VaccinesCX3C Chemokine Receptor 1Cx3cr1 protein, mouseInterferon-gammaInterferon gamma ReceptorReceptors, Interferon

Identifiers

PMID40883541
PMCPMC12397237

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.