Neurotoxic effects of ochratoxin A on the subventricular zone of adult mouse brain.

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a mycotoxin that was discovered as a secondary metabolite of the fungal species Aspergillus and Penicillium, is a common contaminant in food and animal feed. This mycotoxin has been described as teratogenic, carcinogenic, genotoxic, immunotoxic and has been proven a potent neurotoxin. Other authors have previously reported the effects of OTA in different structures of the central nervous system as well as in some neurogenic regions. However, the impact of OTA exposure in the subventricular zone (SVZ) has not been assessed yet. To elucidate whether OTA affects neural precursors of the mouse SVZ we investigated, in vitro and in vivo, the effects of OTA exposure on the SVZ and on the neural precursors obtained from this neurogenic niche. In this work, we prove the cumulative effect of OTA exposure on proliferation, differentiation and depletion of neural stem cells cultured from the SVZ. In addition, we corroborated these results in vivo by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. As a result, we found a significant alteration in the proliferation process, which was evidenced by a decrease in the number of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine-positive cells and glial cells, as well as, a significant decrease in the number of neuroblasts in the SVZ. To summarize, in this study we demonstrate how OTA could be a threat to the developing and the adult SVZ through its impact in cell viability, proliferation and differentiation in a dose-dependent manner.

Neuroprotection of Brain Cells by Lipoic Acid Treatment after Cellular Stress.

We have previously observed that in vivo lipoic acid (LA) treatment induced a protective effect onto primary cortical neurons after brain injury. In an effort to better understand LA action mechanism in the brain, in the present study, we stressed brain cells in vitro and ex vivo and then analyzed by inmmunocytochemistry and biochemical assays, the changes induced by LA on cell survival and on the concentration of oxidative stress markers, such as glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and malondialdehyde (MDA). The stressors used were lipopolysaccharide (LPS), dopamine, and l-buthionine-S,R-sulfoximine (BSO). Our results showed that LA decreased cell death and increased GSH/GSSG ratio in cells stressed by LPS + dopamine, suggesting that the mechanism underlying LA action is regeneration of GSSG to GSH. When cells were stressed by BSO, LA diminished cell death and decreased GSH/GSSG ratio. In this case, it could be concluded that, due to the low GSH basal levels, GSSG reduction is not possible and therefore it might be thought that cell death prevention might be mediated through other mechanisms. Finally, we induced chemical oxidative damage in brain homogenate. After LA treatment, GSH and GSH/GSSG ratio increased and MDA concentration decreased, demonstrating again that LA was not able to increase de novo GSH synthesis but is able to increase GSSG conversion to GSH.