title: Rearrangement of the dendritic morphology of the neurons from prefrontal cortex and hippocampus after subthalamic lesion in Sprague-Dawley rats.
abstract: Several studies in rodents have suggested the inactivation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) as an alternative strategy to Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment. The STN is part of the basal ganglia and plays an important role in the motor function; however, recent data suggest that this structure has a critical role in the cognitive function of the limbic system. The STN receives direct projection from the prefrontal cortex (PFC), structure interconnected with the hippocampus and both structures send excitatory projections to the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Here, we determined whether and which changes occurred 4 weeks after a STN lesion in the dendritic morphology of pyramidal neurons of the layers 3 and 5 of the PFC and basolateral amygdala, neurons of the ventral hippocampus, and the medium spiny neurons of the NAcc and caudate-putamen. Dendritic morphology was measured using the Golgi-Cox procedure followed by Sholl analysis. We also evaluated the effects of STN lesion on locomotor behavior assessed by an open field test, social interaction, acoustic startle response, prepulse inhibition, and locomotor activity induced by a novel environment and amphetamine. We found that STN damage induced a deficit in locomotion measured by open field test with neuronal hypertrophy in PFC (layer 5) and reduced spinogenesis in CA1 ventral hippocampus and PFC (layer 3). Taken together, these data suggest that the behavioral and morphological effects of STN lesion are, at least partially, mediated by limbic subregions with possible consequences for cognitive-related behaviors observed in PD treatment.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Neuropsiquiatría, Instituto de Fisiología, Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, CP: 72570, Puebla, Puebla, México; Departamento de Fisiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México D. F., México.
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Camacho-Abrego
authors.forename: Gullermina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tellez-Merlo
authors.forename: Angel I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Moreno
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garcés
authors.forename: Fidel
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De La Cruz
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zamudio
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flores
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000473:pathology*; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000473:pathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D011699:Putamen / Q000473:pathology; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D055139:Sensory Gating; D012919:Social Behavior; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Parkinson's disease; dendritic morphology; hippocampus; nucleus accumbens; prefrontal cortex; subthalamic nucleus