Schematic of the study design and timeline for the experimental process. Two cohorts of rats were employed. In Cohort 1, male (♂ blue) and female (♀ red) Wistar rat pups were sacrificed at 2, 24, 48, and 72 hours post-injection of either (lipopolysaccharide) LPS or PBS (Phosphate Buffer Saline) at postnatal day 2 (P2). The prefrontal cortex (PFC), striatum (STR), hippocampus (HC), and hypothalamus (HY) were dissected to assess nitric oxide (NO) levels. In the second cohort, male and female rats were administered LPS at P2 and subjected to three different behavioral tasks in the following order: open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM), and forced swim test (FST) at P60. After sacrifice, brain structures (prefrontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and hypothalamus) were collected to assess NO and TNFα levels.