COPAXONE REVERTED CHRONIC STRESS INDUCED ALTERATIONS IN BEHAVIOUR AND TH1/TH2 BALANCE IN BALB/C MICE.

MARÍA LAURA PALUMBO; MARÍA A ZORRILLA ZUBILETE; GRACIELA A CREMASCHI; ANA MARÍA GENARO

Rosaria, Santa Fe, Argentina

Congreso; XLI Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Farmacología Experimental (SAFE); 2009

Sociedad Argentina de Farmacología Experimental (SAFE)

Stress has been related to cognitive deficit. The hippocampus, a limbic area involved in learning and memory, is particularly sensitive to the effects of chronic stress. Cytokines have been shown to affect some behaviour, including memory. Moreover, IL-2, IFN-g  and IL-6 has been implicated in psychiatric disorders. Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®) is a synthetic amino acid polymer that can weakly cross-react with CNS-resident autoantigens and can safely simulate the protective and reparative effects of autoreactive T cells. The aim of the present work was to study copaxone effects in the behaviour and in the TH1/TH2 balance induced by chronic stress in BALB/c mice. We found that BALB/c mice exposed to chronic stress had a poor learning performance respect to control mice in both, alternation behaviour in Y-maze task and habituation in open field. The lymphoid production of cytokines analysed by ELISA showed a decrease of IFN-g and not changes in IL-2 (TH1-cytokines) and an increase of IL-6, IL-4 and IL-10 (TH2-cytokines) in stressed BALB/c mice. These effects induced by chronic stress were reverted by administration of copaxone (100ug per injection s.c. to four times during three weeks). These results indicate that copaxone is able to reverse both the memory impairment and the TH1/ TH2 cytokine balance. These results suggest that TH1 response could constitute a protective mechanism preventing behaviour impairment.