A Sheepish Model for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
A forthcoming review in *Brain, Behavior, and Immunity* proposes using sheep as a novel translational model to investigate how maternal immune activation (MIA) influences fetal brain development and contributes to neurodevelopmental disorders. The authors argue that sheep share key physiological and developmental similarities with humans, including a complex gyrencephalic brain and a long gestation period, making them a potentially superior model to rodents for studying the intricate interplay between maternal inflammation, placental function, and offspring neurodevelopment.
Why it might matter to you: While focused on neurology, this methodological perspective on translational animal models is highly relevant to hepatology research, where identifying accurate preclinical models for complex human liver diseases remains a critical challenge. The principles of selecting a species with appropriate anatomical, metabolic, and immune system parallels directly inform your work in modeling conditions like non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) or drug-induced liver injury, where rodent models often fail to fully recapitulate human pathology.
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