Long-term effects on cardiorespiratory and behavioral responses in male and female rats prenatally exposed to cannabinoid.

Development of the respiratory system can be affected by the use of drugs during pregnancy, as the prenatal phase is highly sensitive to pharmacological interventions, resulting in long-term consequences. The deleterious effects of external cannabinoids during gestation may be related to negative interference in central nervous system formation, cardiorespiratory system function, and behavioral disorders. Nevertheless, the impact of external cannabinoids on cardiorespiratory network development, chemosensitivity, and its future consequences in adulthood is still unclear. We evaluated the effects of prenatal exposure to a synthetic cannabinoid (WIN 55,212-2, 0.5 mg.kg-1.day-1) on the cardiorespiratory control and panic-like behavior of male and female rats in adulthood. Exogenous cannabinoid exposure during pregnancy resulted in a sex-dependent difference in breathing control. Specifically, males showed increased chemosensitivity to CO2 and O2, while females exhibited decreased sensitivity. Altered cardiovascular control was evident, with prenatally treated males and females being more susceptible to hypertension and tachycardia under adverse environmental conditions. Moreover, WIN-treated males exhibited higher fragmentation of sleep episodes, while females displayed anxiolytic and panicolytic behavioral responses to CO2. However, no changes were observed in the mechanical component of the respiratory system, and there were no neuroanatomical alterations, such as changes in the expression of CB1 receptors in the brainstem or in the quantification of catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons. These findings highlight that external interference in cannabinoid signaling during fetal development causes sex-specific long-lasting effects for the cardiorespiratory system and behavioral responses in adulthood.

Inhibition of Pro-Inflammatory Microglia with Minocycline Improves Cognitive and Sleep-Wake Dysfunction Under Respiratory Stress in a Sporadic Model for Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) can occur due to excessive activation of microglia in response to the accumulation of amyloid-ß peptide (Aß). Previously, we demonstrated an increased expression of this peptide in the locus coeruleus (LC) in a sporadic model for AD (streptozotocin, STZ; 2 mg/kg, ICV). We hypothesized that the STZ-AD model exhibits neuroinflammation, and treatment with an inhibitor of microglia (minocycline) can reverse the cognitive, respiratory, sleep, and molecular disorders of this model. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of minocycline treatment in STZ model disorders. METHODS: We treated control and STZ-treated rats for five days with minocycline (30 mg/kg, IP) and evaluated cognitive performance, chemoreflex response to hypercapnia and hypoxia, and total sleep time. Additionally, quantification of Aß, microglia analyses, and relative expression of cytokines in the LC were performed. RESULTS: Minocycline treatment improved learning and memory, which was concomitant with a decrease in microglial cell density and re-establishment of morphological changes induced by STZ in the LC region. Minocycline did not reverse the STZ-induced increase in CO2 sensitivity during wakefulness. However, it restored the daytime sleep-wake cycle in STZ-treated animals to the same levels as those observed in control animals. In the LC, levels of A and expression of Il10, Il1b, and Mcp1 mRNA remained unaffected by minocycline, but we found a strong trend of minocycline effect on Tnf- α. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that minocycline effectively reduces microglial recruitment and the inflammatory morphological profile in the LC, while it recovers cognitive performance and restores the sleep-wake pattern impaired by STZ.

Sex- and age-specific respiratory alterations induced by prenatal exposure to the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 in rats.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cannabis legalization has risen in many countries, and its use during pregnancy has increased. The endocannabinoid system is present in the CNS at early stages of embryonic development, and regulates functional brain maturation including areas responsible for respiratory control, data on the influence of external cannabinoids on the development of the respiratory system and possible consequences during postnatal life are limited. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We evaluated the effects of prenatal exposure to synthetic cannabinoid (WIN 55,212-2 [WIN], 0.5 mg·kg-1 ·day-1 ) on the respiratory control system in neonatal (P0, P6-7 and P12-13) and juvenile (P27-28) male and female rats. KEY RESULTS: WIN administration to pregnant rats interfered sex-specifically with breathing regulation of offspring, promoting a greater sensitivity to CO2 at all ages in males (except P6-7) and in juvenile females. An altered hypoxic chemoreflex was observed in P0 (hyperventilation) and P6-7 (hypoventilation) males, which was absent in females. Along with breathing alterations, brainstem analysis showed an increase in the number of catecholaminergic neurons and cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1 ) and changes in tissue respiration in the early males. A reduction in pulmonary compliance was observed in juvenile male rats. Preexposure to WIN enhanced spontaneous apnoea and reduced the number of serotoninergic (5-HT) neurons in the raphe magnus nucleus of P0 females. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These data demonstrate that excess stimulation of the endocannabinoid system during gestation has prolonged and sex-specific consequences for the respiratory control system.

Chronic molecular hydrogen inhalation mitigates short and long-term memory loss in polymicrobial sepsis.

The central nervous system (CNS) is one of the first physiological systems to be affected in sepsis. During the exacerbated systemic inflammatory response at the early stage of sepsis, circulatory inflammatory mediators are able to reach the CNS leading to neuroinflammation and, consequently, long-term impairment in learning and memory formation is observed. The acute treatment with molecular hydrogen (H2) exerts important antioxidative, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects in sepsis, but little is known about the mechanism itself and the efficacy of chronic H2 inhalation in sepsis treatment. Thus, we tested two hypotheses. We first hypothesized that chronic H2 inhalation is also an effective therapy to treat memory impairment induced by sepsis. The second hypothesis is that H2 treatment decreases sepsis-induced neuroinflammation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, important areas related to short and long-term memory processing. Our results indicate that (1) chronic exposure of hydrogen gas is a simple, safe and promising therapeutic strategy to prevent memory loss in patients with sepsis and (2) acute H2 inhalation decreases neuroinflammation in memory-related areas and increases total nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a transcription factorthat regulates a vast group of antioxidant and inflammatory agents expression in these areas of septic animals.

Vasopressin release during endotoxaemic shock in mice lacking inducible nitric oxide synthase.

We tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide (NO) arising from the action of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is responsible for the deficiency in vasopressin (AVP) release and consequent hypotension during endotoxaemic shock. Wild-type (WT) and iNOS knockout mice (iNOS(-/-)) were given either saline or Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1.0 mg/kg i.v., final volume 0.03 ml). Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) was measured and plasma AVP levels determined before and after LPS or saline injection. In WT mice, MAP was significantly lower 2 h after LPS administration and remained low for the remainder of the 6-h observation period. AVP plasma levels were increased at the 2nd and 4th h of the experiment, returning thereafter to basal levels. Conversely, LPS injection in iNOS iNOS(-/-) mice elicited a sustained increase in plasma AVP concentration and attenuated the fall in blood pressure. These data indicate that NO arising from the iNOS plays an important inhibitory role in AVP release during endotoxaemia and may be responsible for the hypotension occurring during this vasodilatory shock.