title: The influence of aging on poststroke depression using a rat model via middle cerebral artery occlusion.
abstract: Poststroke depression (PSD) is the most frequent psychological sequela following stroke. While previous studies describe the impact of age on brain infarct volume, brain edema, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown following ischemia, the role of age on PSD has yet to be described. Here, we examine the influence of age on PSD progression in a rat model of PSD by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). One hundred forty-three rats were divided into three groups. 48 rats 20 weeks of age underwent a sham procedure, 51 rats 20 weeks of age had MCAO, and 44 rats 22-26 months of age had MCAO. Groups were further divided into two subgroups. The first subgroup was used to measure infarct lesion volume, brain edema, and BBB breakdown at 24 h. In the second subgroup at 3 weeks after MCAO, rats were subjected to a sucrose preference test, two-way shuttle avoidance task, forced swimming test, and a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein level measurement. Total and striatal infarct volume, brain edema, and BBB breakdown in the striatum were increased in older rats, as compared with younger rats. While both old and young rats exhibited depressive-like behaviors on each of the behavioral tests and lower BDNF levels post-MCAO, as compared with control rats, there were no differences between old and young rats. Although older rats suffered from larger infarct volumes, increased brain edema and more BBB disruption following MCAO, the lack of behavioral differences between young and old rats suggests that there was no effect of rat age on the incidence of PSD.
authors.affiliation: Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Soroka Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, 84101, Israel, matthewboykoresearch@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boyko
authors.forename: Ruslan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kutz
authors.forename: Benjamin F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Gruenbaum
authors.forename: Hagit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Nitsan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kozlovsky
authors.forename: Shaun E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gruenbaum
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zlotnik
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000209:etiology; D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005518:Food Preferences; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013550:Swimming / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D013395:Sucrose