Login
SYNOPSIS
Concerns have arisen about the potential neurodevelopmental implications of mRNA vaccines, especially in susceptible groups such as pregnant women and their offspring.
TITLE
Prenatal Exposure to COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 Induces Autism-Like Behaviors in Male Neonatal Rats: Insights into WNT and BDNF Signaling Perturbations
M. Erdogan, O. Gurbuz, M. Bozkurt, O. Erbas
Erdogan and co-workers investigated neurodevelopmental pathologies in the offspring of pregnant rodents vaccinated with the COVID-19 mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine. A significant error in the methodology was identified with the dosing of rodents. Researchers administered a human dose (30 ug) of BNT162b2, which would amount to 300 times the effective dose to rodents. Experiments with pregnant rodents injected with BNT162b2 were compared with a control group injected with 1 mL/kg saline. Offspring from the BNT162b2 (13 male – 8 female) and control (10 male – 10 female) were allowed to reach early adulthood (50 days postnatal) before behavioral and motor tests. Subsequently, all animals from each group were sacrificed for histological, biochemical, and transcriptome analysis of the brain. A reduction in social behavior and physiological (motor) effects was significant only in males from the vaccine group. The histological analysis indicated pathology of the hippocampus (involved in learning and memory) and cerebrum (involved in motor control) for the vaccine group. Notable dysmorphological changes were evident with cells of the hippocampus elongated, while for the cerebellum, some alterations in the cellular architecture Purkinje cell layer were evident. Bioassays indicated lower counts of neuronal count and a reduction in neurotransmitter brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the vaccine group. Histological and bioassays indicate clear biomarkers of neurotoxicity in the brain with cell atrophy and a reduction of neuroplasticity (the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization). Targeted transcription analysis indicated upregulation of mTOR (reported for abnormal synaptic transduction and neurotransmitter overstimulation) for males and a decrease in Wnt signalling pathway (involved in embryonic neurodevelopment to adulthood). A previous article in 2023 by Erdogan et al. (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11481-023-10089-4) indicated the long-term neurotoxicity of artificial spike protein (SP) to the developing unborn fetus. This study further corroborates this earlier study of the potential harm of maternal bodily synthesis of SP to the developing fetus, post-maternal COVID-19 vaccination.