Ependymal epithelium disruption after vanadium pentoxide inhalation. A mice experimental model.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the CNS against chemical insults. Regulation of blood-brain tissue exchange is accomplished by ependymal cells, which possess intercellular tight junctions. Loss of BBB function is an etiologic component of many neurological disorders. Vanadium (V) is a metalloid widely distributed in the environment and exerts potent toxic effects on a wide variety of biological systems. The current study examines the effects of Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) inhalation in mice ependymal epithelium, through the analysis of the brain metal concentrations and the morphological modifications in the ependymal cells identified by scanning and transmission electron microscopy after 8 weeks of inhalation, in order to obtain a possible explanation about the mechanisms that V uses to enter and alter the CNS. Our results showed that V2O5 concentrations increase from the first week of study, stabilizing its values during the rest of the experiment. The morphological effects included cilia loss, cell sloughing and ependymal cell layer detachment. This damage can allow toxicants to modify the permeability of the epithelium and promote access of inflammatory mediators to the underlying neuronal tissue causing injury and neuronal death. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of BBB disruption would allow planning strategies to protect the brain from toxicants such as metals, which have increased in the atmosphere during the last decades and constitute an important health problem.
Avila-Costa
María Rosa
MR
Department of Neuroscience, National University of Mexico (UNAM) Iztacala, A.P. 314 Los Reyes, C.P. 54040 Edo., México, Mexico.
Colín-Barenque
Laura
L
Zepeda-Rodríguez
Armando
A
Antuna
Silvia B
SB
Saldivar O
Liliana
L
Espejel-Maya
Guadalupe
G
Mussali-Galante
Patricia
P
del Carmen Avila-Casado
Maria
M
Reyes-Olivera
Alfonso
A
Anaya-Martinez
Veronica
V
Fortoul
Teresa I
TI
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004805:Ependyma / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D020260:Heavy Metal Poisoning, Nervous System / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D051379:Mice; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D017968:Vanadium Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000506:poisoning*
D017968:Vanadium Compounds; C066075:vanadium pentoxide