Fig. 6.

Blockade of IL-6R improves neonatal outcomes and limits organ inflammation induced by intra-amniotic IL-1α. (a) Dams underwent intra-amniotic injection of PBS (control) or IL-1α on 16.5 days post coitum (dpc). Six h later, dams received intraperitoneal injection of rat anti-mouse IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody (aIL-6R) or rat IgG2b isotype (control). Dams were allowed to deliver and neonatal survival until postnatal day (PND) 21 as well as weekly weights and neuro-motor development testing were recorded. Brain and lung tissues were collected on PND21. (b) Neonatal survival rates up to PND21 are displayed as Kaplan–Meier survival curves (n = 14 litters per group). p-values were determined using the Gehan-Breslow-Wilcoxon test. (c) Weights (g) of neonates across the first three weeks of life are shown as box plots (n = 10–14 litters per group). p-values were determined using two-sided Mann–Whitney U-tests. Data are shown as box-and-whisker plots where midlines indicate medians, boxes indicate interquartile ranges, and whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values. (d) Representative images of pups at PND21. The scale bar represents 5 cm. (e) Schematic diagram of calliper measurement and quantification of neonatal biparietal diameter (n = 10–14 litters per group). (f) Schematic diagram of the negative geotaxis test for neuro-motor evaluation. The rate of neonates with a failed test and the time required to complete the test are shown as box plots (n = 6–14 litters per group). Data in e and f are shown as box-and-whisker plots where midlines indicate medians, boxes indicate interquartile ranges, and whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values. (g) Representative heatmap showing Z-scores for gene expression in the neonatal brain from the four experimental groups (n = 6 per group). Red indicates increased expression and blue indicates decreased expression. (h) Expression (−ΔC_T) of Aim2, Cd68, Ccr5, and mGluR5 in the neonatal brain. Data for gene expression are shown as box-and-whisker plots where midlines indicate medians, boxes indicate interquartile ranges, and whiskers indicate minimum and maximum values. (i) Representative heatmap showing Z-scores for gene expression in the neonatal lung from the four experimental groups (n = 6 per group). p-values were determined using the two-sided Mann–Whitney U-test. ∗p < 0.05; ∗∗p < 0.01.