Cesarean section (C/S) is one way of delivering babies
and is chosen when mothers or babies are facing problems or life-threatening conditions during pregnancy. Many meta-analyses have suggested an etiological relationship between C/S delivery and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However
as a risk factor for ASDs
C/S delivery has not yet been well studied. Because C/S deliveries have been increasing
it is very important to investigate the causal association between C/S and ASDs. Here
using three approaches
we showed experimentally that C/S delivery induced ASD-like traits in offspring mice
and that some of these changes were ameliorated by one-time oxytocin (OXT) treatment. Treatment with OXT receptor antagonists before natural delivery also induced ASD-related behaviors. Moreover
wild-type mice born to OXT-KO dams showed similar changes. Thus
insufficient OXT exposure from dams to offspring during delivery may be a trigger for ASD-related behaviors.
