title: Blueberry- and spirulina-enriched diets enhance striatal dopamine recovery and induce a rapid, transient microglia activation after injury of the rat nigrostriatal dopamine system.
abstract: Neuroinflammation plays a critical role in loss of dopamine neurons during brain injury and in neurodegenerative diseases. Diets enriched in foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions may modulate this neuroinflammation. The model of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injected into the dorsal striatum of normal rats, causes a progressive loss of dopamine neurons in the ventral mesencephalon. In this study, we have investigated the inflammatory response following 6-OHDA injected into the striatum of adult rats treated with diet enriched in blueberry or spirulina. One week after the dopamine lesion, a similar size of dopamine degeneration was found in the striatum and in the globus pallidus in all lesioned animals. At 1 week, a significant increase in OX-6- (MHC class II) positive microglia was found in animals fed with blueberry- and spirulina-enriched diets in both the striatum and the globus pallidus. These OX-6-positive cells were located within the area of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) -negativity. At 1 month after the lesion, the number of OX-6-positive cells was reduced in diet-treated animals while a significant increase beyond that observed at 1 week was now present in lesioned control animals. Dopamine recovery as revealed by TH-immunohistochemistry was significantly enhanced at 4 weeks postlesion in the striatum while in the globus pallidus the density of TH-positive nerve fibers was not different from control-fed lesioned animals. In conclusion, enhanced striatal dopamine recovery appeared in animals treated with diet enriched in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and coincided with an early, transient increase in OX-6-positive microglia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, S 901 87 Umeå, Sweden. ingrid.stromberg@histocel.umu.se
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Strömberg
authors.forename: Carmelina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gemma
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vila
authors.forename: Paula C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Bickford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D029798:Blueberry Plants; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005526:Food, Formulated; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D017628:Microglia / Q000502:physiology*; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D016627:Oxidopamine; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D053545:Spirulina; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C100745:Aif1 protein, rat; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D016627:Oxidopamine; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine