THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF IGF-I ON HIPPOCAMPAL NEUROGENESIS AND FUNCTION DURING AGING

URIARTE DONATI MAIA; MOREL GR; REGGIANI PC; LOPEZ-LEÓN M; GOYA RG

Neurogenesis

London : Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Lugar: Austin (Texas); Año: 2016 vol. 4

2326-2133

In rats, learning and memory performance declineduring normal aging, a change that is  paralleledby a severe reduction of the levels of neurogenesis  in the hippocampal  dentate gyrus (DG). A promising therapeuticstrategy to restore neurogenesis in the  hippocampusof old rats and spatial memory involves the use of  insulin-like growth  factor-I (IGF-I), a powerful neuroprotectiveand neurogenic molecule. This peptide exerts pleiotropic effects in the brain,regulating multiple cellular processes. Thus, 4-week intracerebroventricular(ICV) perfusion (via osmotic minipumps) of  IGF-I  significantlyrestored spatial memory and hippocampal neurogenesis in old male rats. Similar results were achieved by  ICV IGF-I gene therapy in aging female rats. Inthe  DG of old rats, IGF-I seems to actmainly by increasing the number of immature neurons without affecting their survivalor differentiation rate. A novel approach to increase neurogenesis in thehippocampus of adult rats is based on the use of adult mesenchymal stem cells.This constitutes a new promise for the  treatmentof memory  loss in the early stages ofAlzheimer?s disease