High fat diet-induced obesity causes a reduction in brain tyrosine hydroxylase levels and non-motor features in rats through metabolic dysfunction, neuroinflammation and oxidative stress.

Obesity is a health problem that has been associated with neuroinflammation, decreased cognitive functions and development of neurodegenerative diseases. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative condition characterized by motor and non-motor abnormalities, increased brain inflammation, α-synuclein protein aggregation and dopaminergic neuron loss that is associated with decreased levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the brain. Diet-induced obesity is a global epidemic and its role as a risk factor for PD is not clear. Herein, we showed that 25 weeks on a high-fat diet (HFD) promotes significant alterations in the nigrostriatal axis of Wistar rats. Obesity induced by HFD exposure caused a reduction in TH levels and increased TH phosphorylation at serine 40 in the ventral tegmental area. These effects were associated with insulin resistance, increased tumor necrosis factor-α levels, oxidative stress, astrogliosis and microglia activation. No difference was detected in the levels of α-synuclein. Obesity also induced impairment of locomotor activity, total mobility and anxiety-related behaviors that were identified in the open-field and light/dark tasks. There were no changes in motor coordination or memory. Together, these data suggest that the reduction of TH levels in the nigrostriatal axis occurs through an α-synuclein-independent pathway and can be attributed to brain inflammation, oxidative/nitrosative stress and metabolic disorders induced by obesity.

Low-cost apparatus for cigarette smoke exposure in rats.

BACKGROUND: The effects of tobacco smoke on the central nervous system are usually studied with isolated nicotine, ignoring other compounds present in cigarette smoke. The few studies that use in vivo whole-body cigarette smoke exposure are usually performed in expensive commercial apparatus. NEW METHOD: We presented a feasible, safe, and low-cost apparatus for cigarette smoke exposure in rodents. RESULTS: Rats exposed to cigarette smoke in this apparatus showed cotinine levels similar to human active smokers. Additional results showed that cigarette smoke exposure increased glutamate and aspartic acid levels and decreased leucine, isoleucine, ornithine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of rats. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Our apparatus is feasible, safe, and costs 67-fold less than a commercial automatized smoking machine. Beyond the low cost, it does not require specialized knowledge for building or maintenance. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that our low-cost apparatus is reliable and reproduces cigarette smoke use in humans.

Post-weaning social isolation impairs purinergic signaling in rat brain.

Early life stressors, such as social isolation (SI), can disrupt brain development contributing to behavioral and neurochemical alterations in adulthood. Purinergic receptors and ectonucleotidases are key regulators of brain development in embryonic and postnatal periods, and they are involved in several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. The extracellular ATP drives purinergic signaling by activating P2X and P2Y receptors and it is hydrolyzed by ectonucleotidases in adenosine, which activates P1 receptors. The purpose of this study was to investigate if SI, a rodent model used to replicate abnormal behavior relevant to schizophrenia, impacts purinergic signaling. Male Wistar rats were reared from weaning in group-housed or SI conditions for 8 weeks. SI rats exhibited impairment in prepulse inhibition and social interaction. SI presented increased ADP levels in cerebrospinal fluid and ADP hydrolysis in the hippocampus and striatum synaptosomes. Purinergic receptor expressions were upregulated in the prefrontal cortex and downregulated in the hippocampus and striatum. A2A receptors were differentially expressed in SI prefrontal cortex and the striatum, suggesting distinct roles in these brain structures. SI also presented decreased ADP, adenosine, and guanosine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid in response to D-amphetamine. Like patients with schizophrenia, uric acid levels were prominently increased in SI rats after D-amphetamine challenge. We suggest that the SI-induced deficits in prepulse inhibition might be related to the SI-induced changes in purinergic signaling. We provide new evidence that purinergic signaling is markedly affected in a rat model relevant to schizophrenia, pointing out the importance of purinergic system in psychiatry conditions.

Immune system challenge improves recognition memory and reverses malaria-induced cognitive impairment in mice.

The immune system plays a role in the maintenance of healthy neurocognitive function. Different patterns of immune response triggered by distinct stimuli may affect nervous functions through regulatory or deregulatory signals, depending on the properties of the exogenous immunogens. Here, we investigate the effect of immune stimulation on cognitive-behavioural parameters in healthy mice and its impact on cognitive sequelae resulting from non-severe experimental malaria. We show that immune modulation induced by a specific combination of immune stimuli that induce a type 2 immune response can enhance long-term recognition memory in healthy adult mice subjected to novel object recognition task (NORT) and reverse a lack of recognition ability in NORT and anxiety-like behaviour in a light/dark task that result from a single episode of mild Plasmodium berghei ANKA malaria. Our findings suggest a potential use of immunogens for boosting and recovering recognition memory that may be impaired by chronic and infectious diseases and by the effects of ageing.

Guanosine fast onset antidepressant-like effects in the olfactory bulbectomy mice model.

The treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) is still a challenge. In the search for novel antidepressants, glutamatergic neuromodulators have been investigated as possible fast-acting antidepressants. Innovative studies suggest that the purine cycle and/or the purinergic signaling can be dysregulated in MDD, and the endogenous nucleoside guanosine has gained attention due to its extracellular effects. This study aimed to verify if guanosine produces fast-onset effects in the well-validated, reliable and sensitive olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) model of depression. The involvement of the mTOR pathway, a key target for the fast-onset effect of ketamine, was also investigated. Results show that a single i.p. injection of guanosine, or ketamine, completely reversed the OBX-induced anhedonic-like behavior 24 or 48 h post treatment, as well as the short-term recognition memory impairment 48 h post treatment. The antidepressant-like effects of guanosine and ketamine were completely abolished by rapamycin. This study shows, for the first time, that guanosine, in a way similar to ketamine, is able to elicit a fast antidepressant response in the OBX model in mice. The results support the notion that guanosine represents a new road for therapeutic improvement in MDD.

Alterations in the MicroRNA of the Blood of Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: Effects on Epigenetic Regulation and Potential Biomarkers.

Aims: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of heterogeneous brain-based neurodevelopmental disorders with different levels of symptom severity. Given the challenges, the clinical diagnosis of ASD is based on information gained from interviews with patients' parents. The heterogeneous pathogenesis of this disorder appears to be driven by genetic and environmental interactions, which also plays a vital role in predisposing individuals to ASD with different commitment levels. In recent years, it has been proposed that epigenetic modifications directly contribute to the pathogenesis of several neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ASD. The microRNAs (miRNAs) comprises a species of short noncoding RNA that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally and have an essential functional role in the brain, particularly in neuronal plasticity and neuronal development, and could be involved in ASD pathophysiology. The aim of this study is to evaluate the expression of blood miRNA in correlation with clinical findings in patients with ASD, and to find possible biomarkers for the disorder. Results: From a total of 26 miRNA studied, seven were significantly altered in ASD patients, when compared to the control group: miR34c-5p, miR92a-2-5p, miR-145-5p and miR199a-5p were up-regulated and miR27a-3p, miR19-b-1-5p and miR193a-5p were down-regulated in ASD patients. Discussion: The main targets of these miRNAs are involved in immunological developmental, immune response and protein synthesis at transcriptional and translational levels. The up-regulation of both miR-199a-5p and miR92a-2a and down-regulation of miR-193a and miR-27a was observed in AD patients, and may in turn affect the SIRT1, HDAC2, and PI3K/Akt-TSC:mTOR signaling pathways. Furthermore, MeCP2 is a target of miR-199a-5p, and is involved in Rett Syndrome (RTT), which possibly explains the autistic phenotype in male patients with this syndrome.

Long-term effect of uncomplicated Plasmodium berghei ANKA malaria on memory and anxiety-like behaviour in C57BL/6 mice.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral malaria, the main complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection in humans, is associated with persistent neurocognitive sequels both in human disease and the murine experimental model. In recent years, cognitive deficits related to uncomplicated (non-cerebral) malaria have also been reported in chronically exposed residents of endemic areas, but not in some murine experimental models of non-cerebral malaria. This study aimed at evaluating the influence of uncomplicated malaria on different behavioural paradigms associated with memory and anxiety-like parameters in a murine model that has the ability to develop cerebral malaria. METHODS: Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected and non-infected C57BL/6 mice were used. Development of cerebral malaria was prevented by chloroquine treatment starting on the fourth day of infection. The control group (non-infected mice) were treated with PBS. The effect of uncomplicated malaria infection on locomotor habituation, short and long-term memory and anxious-like behaviour was evaluated 64 days after parasite clearance in assays including open field, object recognition, Y-maze and light/dark tasks. RESULTS: Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected mice showed significant long-lasting disturbances reflected by a long-term memory-related behaviour on open field and object recognition tasks, accompanied by an anxious-like phenotype availed on open field and light-dark tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term neurocognitive sequels may follow an uncomplicated malaria episode in an experimental model prone to develop cerebral malaria, even if the infection is treated before the appearance of clinical signs of cerebral impairment.