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High maternal levels of the inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein (CRP), are associated with increased risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Mol Psychiatry 2014; 19:259) in the offspring, and CRP is elevated by a high-glycemic-index diet. These factors led investigators to test the effect of high- glycemic-index diets on mice genetically bred to exhibit autistic features.
Twelve pregnant mice were given either a high- or a low-glycemic-index diet, starting from before being bred. From weaning, male offspring (12–15 per group) were fed diets that matched their mothers' until age 10 weeks (which corresponds with the timing of murine brain development).
At 10 weeks, mice on the high-glycemic-index diet significantly differed from those on th…