title: Effect of Physical and Social Components of Enriched Environment on Astrocytes Proliferation in Rats After Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury.
abstract: Treatment of enriched environment (EE) exerts neuroprotective effect in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, how the component of EE contributes to the functional recovery after brain ischemia remains unclear. Here we examined the effect of physical and social components of EE on poststroke astrocytes proliferation using an animal model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion. Rats were divided into five groups: physical enrichment group (PE), social enrichment group (SE), physical and social enrichment group (PSE), ischemia + standard group (IS) and sham-operated + standard group (SS). In a set of behavioral tests, we demonstrated that animals in the enriched groups exhibited improved functional outcomes compared with those in standard group. Reduced infarct volume was only observed in PSE and PE groups. Double immunofluorescent labeling and western blot analysis revealed that rats in PSE and PE groups showed significantly more proliferated astrocytes and higher expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the periinfarct cortex, compared with those in SE group. Astrocytes proliferation and BDNF expression were significantly correlated with functional outcomes. Collectively, this study suggests that physical activity is a more important component of EE regarding the effect on astrocytes proliferation and BDNF expression, which may contribute to the improved neurological function of stroke animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Street, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xiuping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Street, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Street, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China. weijingliaorehab@163.com.
authors.forename: Weijing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Street, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei, China. qwanwh@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D004777:Environment; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
keywords: Astrocytes proliferation; BDNF; Cerebral ischemia; Enriched environment