title: The effect of prenatal X-irradiation on the developing cerebral cortex of rats. II: A quantitative assessment of glial cells in the somatosensory cortex.
abstract: The developing central nervous system is known to be highly vulnerable to X-irradiation. Although glial cells are involved in various brain functions, knowledge on the effects of X-irradiation on glial cells is limited. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of prenatal X-irradiation on glial cells. Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed to X-irradiation at a dose of 1.0 Gy on day 15 of gestation. Their offspring were examined at 7 weeks of age. The forebrain weight of X-irradiated rats was significantly lower than that of the age-matched controls. Histological quantification with stereology of the somatosensory cortex (SC) revealed no significant difference in the numerical density of glial cells between the X-irradiated and control rats. However, the glial cells in the X-irradiated animals had significantly larger nuclear size. We had previously reported that a similar X-irradiation paradigm resulted in no significant change in the numerical density of neurons in the SC. According to the results of the present study, there were no significant differences in the glial cell-to-neuron ratios between the X-irradiated and control animals. Taken together, it is speculated that prenatal X-irradiation has an equal effects on the numerical densities of glial cells and neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki-cho, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan. mikit@med.kagawa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sumitani
authors.forename: Zhi-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Weiwen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusaka
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Warita
authors.forename: Nam-Seob
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005260:Female; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014965:X-Rays