ASTROCYTE-NEURON VULNERABILITY TO PRENATAL STRESS IN THE ADULT RAT BRAIN

BARROS VG; DUHALDE-VEGA M; CALTANA LR; BRUSCO HA; ANTONELLI MC

Nueva York, Estados Unidos

Congreso; 34* Annual Meeting American Society of Neurochemistry; 2004

Society for Neurochemistry

Insults suffered during the perinatal period can dramatically influence the formation of forebrain glutamate projections with the concomitant presence of reactive astrocytes. Astrocytes appear to contribute to the regulation of neuronal morphology and survival, releasing S-100B-protein and glutamate. We have previously demonstrated that restraint prenatal stress inflicted during the last week of pregnancy increased glutamate receptors in rat adult offprings. Employing the same model, we have studied the presence of reactive astrocytes and the degree of dendritic arborisation in the brain of adult rats. On postnatal day 90, brains were processed for inmunocytochemistry using primary antibodies directed to GFAP (the main cytoskeletal astroglial protein) and MAP2 (a microtubule associated protein present in dendrites). Cell area of GFAP+ astrocytes and relative inmunoreactive areas of MAP2+ fibers were measured by computer-assited image analysis (VIDAS-Kontron) attached to a Zeiss light photomicroscopy. The results show a significant increase in astrocytic area and a significant decrease in MAP2+ area in the brain of adult rats implying the presence of reactive astrocytes and reduced dendritic arborisation. These morphological changes that persist throughout the life of the rat can be interpreted as a trans-synaptic plastic response due to the impairment of the glutamatergic neurotransmission inflicted by prenatal insult. This study was supported by CONICET PIP 6266 (MCA) and UBACyT M-031 (AB)