title: Time course of motor and cognitive functions after chronic cerebral ischemia in rats.
abstract: Cerebral ischemia is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability in aging populations, due to the frequent occurrence of irreversible brain damage and subsequent loss of neuronal function which lead to cognitive impairment and some motor dysfunction. In the present study, the real time course of motor and cognitive functions were evaluated following the chronic cerebral ischemia induced by permanent, bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries (PBOCCA). Male Sprague Dawley rats (200-300g) were subjected to PBOCCA or sham-operated surgery and tested 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks following the ischemic insult. The results showed that PBOCCA significantly reduced step-through latency in a passive avoidance task at all time points when compared to the sham-operated group. PBOCCA rats also showed significant increase in escape latencies during training in the Morris water maze, as well as a reduction of the percentage of times spend in target quadrant of the maze at all time points following the occlusion. Importantly, there were no significant changes in locomotor activity between PBOCCA and sham-operated groups. The BDNF expression in the hippocampus was 29.3±3.1% and 40.1±2.6% on day 14 and 28 post PBOCCA, respectively compared to sham-operated group. Present data suggest that the PBOCCA procedure effectively induces behavioral, cognitive symptoms associated with cerebral ischemia and, consequently, provides a valuable model to study ischemia and related neurodegenerative disorder such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: dthenmoly@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Thenmoly
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Damodaran
authors.affiliation: Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia; Centre for Neuroscience Services and Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zurina
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Visweswaran
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Navaratnam
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroscience Services and Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia; Department of Neurosciences, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mustapha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muzaimi
authors.affiliation: Calcium Signaling Laboratory, National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.
authors.forename: Gandi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Calcium Signaling Laboratory, National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore; DUKE-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6.
authors.forename: Hans C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Dringenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000150:complications; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
keywords: Learning; Locomotor activity; Memory, BDNF; Morris water maze; PBOCCA; Passive avoidance task