SH-053-2′F-S-CH3 does not impair social approach behavior but interferes with social recognition performance in both control and polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidilic acid [poly(I:C); POL] offspring. (A) Behavioral outcomes in the social approach test (dummy phase). The line plot shows absolute exploration time of an unfamiliar live mouse (M) and inanimate dummy object (D) separately for control (CON) and (POL) offspring treated with vehicle (0mg/kg SH-053-2′F-S-CH3) or SH-053-2′F-S-CH3 (at 15 or 30mg/kg). The bar plot depicts the percent time spent with the live mouse in the social approach test. *p < 0.01, reflecting the significant main effect of prenatal poly(I:C) exposure. (B) Behavioral outcomes in the social recognition test (novelty phase). The line plot shows absolute exploration time of a novel live mouse (N) and the familiar live mouse (F) separately for CON and POL offspring treated with vehicle or SH-053-2′F-S-CH3 (at 15 or 30mg/kg). The bar plot depicts the percent time spent with the novel mouse in the social recognition test. §
p < 0.01, reflecting the significant decrease displayed by animals treated with 30mg/kg SH-053-2′F-S-CH3 relative to vehicle-treated animals. CON, 0mg/kg, n = 11; CON, 15mg/kg, n = 12; CON, 30mg/kg, n = 11; POL, 0mg/kg, n = 11; POL, 15mg/kg, n = 11; and POL, 30mg/kg, n = 12. All values are means ± standard error of the mean, and all p-values are based on Scheffe’s post hoc tests.