title: Alpha-Phenyl-n-tert-butyl-nitrone attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced neuronal injury in the neonatal rat brain.
abstract: Although white matter damage is a fundamental neuropathological feature of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), the motor and cognitive deficits observed later in infants with PVL indicate the possible involvement of cerebral neuronal dysfunction. Using a previously developed rat model of white matter injury induced by cerebral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection, we investigated whether LPS exposure also results in neuronal injury in the neonatal brain and whether alpha-phenyl-n-tert-butyl-nitrone (PBN), an antioxidant, offers protection against LPS-induced neuronal injury. A stereotactic intracerebral injection of LPS (1 mg/kg) was performed in Sprague-Dawley rats (postnatal day 5) and control rats were injected with sterile saline. LPS exposure resulted in axonal and neuronal injury in the cerebral cortex as indicated by elevated expression of beta-amyloid precursor protein, altered axonal length and width, and increased size of cortical neuronal nuclei. LPS exposure also caused loss of tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons in the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental areas of the rat brain. Treatments with PBN (100 mg/kg) significantly reduced LPS-induced neuronal and axonal damage. The protection of PBN was associated with an attenuation of oxidative stress induced by LPS as indicated by the reduced number of 4-hydroxynonenal, malondialdehyde or nitrotyrosine positive cells in the cortical area following LPS exposure, and with the reduction in microglial activation stimulated by LPS. The finding that an inflammatory environment may cause both white matter and neuronal injury in the neonatal brain supports the possible anatomical correlate for the intellectual deficits and the other cortical and deep gray neuronal dysfunctions associated with PVL. The protection of PBN may indicate the potential usefulness of antioxidants for treatment of these neuronal dysfunctions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216-4505, USA.
authors.forename: L-W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D039481:CD11b Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects; D003497:Cyclic N-Oxides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D039481:CD11b Antigen; D003497:Cyclic N-Oxides; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C029217:phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase