Neuroimmune Effects of Developmental TCE Exposure

Abstract

Exposure to certain chemical, biological or physiological risk factors prior to adulthood can alter developmental processes and may in some instances enhance disease risk. This chapter will concentrate on the known effects of exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) during gestation, lactation, and/or early life on the brain and immune system and discuss how this persistent environmental pollutant may impede immunologic and neurologic development to promote developmental pathology. Possible neuroimmune mechanisms and therapeutic interventions to circumvent the neurotoxic and adverse neurobehavioral effects of developmental TCE exposure are proposed.