title: Post-treatment with prolactin protects hippocampal CA1 neurons of the ovariectomized female rat against kainic acid-induced neurodegeneration.
abstract: Kainic acid (KA) is a glutamate agonist widely used in studies of neurodegeneration due to its ability to induce excitotoxic damage in the rodent brain. Previously, we reported that pre-treatment with prolactin (PRL) prevents the neuron loss induced by KA administration in CA1, CA3 and CA4 of the hippocampus of the female rat. Here, we investigated if PRL has a neuroprotective effect in the dorsal hippocampus when it is administered after KA. For this, 100ng of KA or 0.9% saline was administered intracerebroventricularly (ICV) to ovariectomized female rats. One hour later, they received subcutaneous PRL (103μg/day for 7days) or saline through an osmotic minipump. Also, to determine the hippocampal neurogenesis rate, the rats were administered bromodeoxyuridine along with the PRL treatment. Immunostaining for NeuN revealed that neuronal loss is lower in the CA1 of PRL-treated rats compared with the untreated group, but PRL did not confer any protection in the CA3 and CA4 subfields. Furthermore, PRL prevented the KA-induced cognitive deficit measured as a better performance in the novel object recognition test. The PRL treatment did not modify the neurogenesis rate. These data indicate that post-treatment with PRL confers differential neuroprotection against KA-induced neuronal loss in hippocampal subfield CA1, which correlates with a more mild cognitive deficit compared with the untreated control group.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, Qro. 76230, Mexico.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reyes-Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, Qro. 76230, Mexico. Electronic address: marter@unam.mx.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morales
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005911:Gliosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007608:Kainic Acid; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C546339:Rbfox3 protein, rat; D011388:Prolactin; D007608:Kainic Acid
keywords: excitotoxicity; females; hippocampus; memory; neurogenesis; prolactin