title: Maternal endotoxin exposure results in abnormal neuronal architecture in the newborn rabbit.
abstract: Maternal intrauterine inflammation/infection is a potential risk factor for the development of neurologic disorders such as cerebral palsy (CP) in preterm and term infants. CP is associated with white matter and grey matter injury. In the current study, we used a rabbit model of CP in which pregnant rabbits are administered intrauterine injections of the endotoxin lipopolysaccharide. We then investigated the extent of neuronal damage in the newborn kit brain. We observed an overall decrease in the number of MAP2-stained neurons and an increase in Fluoro-Jade C-stained cells in the anterior thalamus of 1-day-old rabbit brain. We also observed an overall decrease in the number of branching points and spine density in the retrosplenial cortex, a major output region of the anterior thalamus that is involved in cognition and memory. The loss of spines and dendritic atrophy in the retrosplenial cortex may be caused by loss of presynaptic input from the thalamus. Our study indicates that the cognitive impairments seen in patients with CP may be related to the degeneration of neurons and abnormal arborization of the thalamic and cortical neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., USA.
authors.forename: Bindu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janisse
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Sujatha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kannan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000633:toxicity*; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000473:pathology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides