title: Effect of pre- and postnatal propylthiouracil administration on the propagation of cortical spreading depression of adult rats.
abstract: The effect of treatment with propylthiouracil early in life (PTU; 8 mg k-1 day-1, ip, from day 17 of gestation to postnatal day 42) on the susceptibility of the cerebral cortex to spreading depression (SD) was studied in 13 adult Wistar rats (90-100 days of age). Ten animals injected with Ringer solution served as control. Adult PTU-treated rats displayed a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in body weight (mean +/- SD: 139.9 +/- 28.9 g vs 304.9 +/- 42.8 g) as well as wet brain weight (1.39 +/- 0.12 g vs 1.86 +/- 0.13 g) and dry brain weight (247.3 +/- 24.2 mg vs 359.4 +/- 30.1 mg). Their thyroid glands presented histological changes indicative of hypofunction and SD velocity of propagation was significantly reduced all along the 6 h of the recording session (mean +/- SD ranges: 1.90 +/- 0.46 to 2.52 +/- 0.68 mm/min vs 3.49 +/- 0.57 to 3.71 +/- 0.55 mm/min). The results indicate that PTU early in life was effective in producing hypothyroidism and that in this situation cortical susceptibility to SD is impaired.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pereira-da-Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013181:Cortical Spreading Depression / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D011441:Propylthiouracil / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D011441:Propylthiouracil