The functional outcome of shunting H-Tx rat pups at different ages.
"Normal", untreated hydrocephalic and CSF shunted hydrocephalic Texas (H-Tx) rat pups at different ages and Sprague-Dawley controls were tested for spatial learning and memory acquisition in an 8-arm radial maze. Shunting 5 day old hydrocephalic pups improved their performance to the level of that of "normal" litter-mates, whereas shunting at 10 days produced no improvement, and the performance of these animals was comparable to that of the untreated hydrocephalics. None of the H-Tx rats, whether treated, untreated or "normal", performed as well as the Sprague-Dawley controls. These findings suggest that shunting prior to skull plate fusion, which occurs at approximately the tenth post-natal day, is capable of protecting brain function involved in memory and learning. The poor functional scores achieved by the "normal" as well as the treated and untreated H-Tx animals compared to the control Sprague-Dawleys, raises the possibility that the H-Tx rat has brain deficits in addition to those caused by hydrocephalus.
Hawkins
D
D
Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK.
Bowers
T M
TM
Bannister
C M
CM
Miyan
J A
JA
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011922:Rats, Mutant Strains; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012886:Skull / Q000254:growth & development; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors