MORPHOMETRICAL STUDY ON CYTOSKELETAL COMPONENTS OF NEURONAL AND ASTROGLIAL CELLS AFTER A CHRONIC CB1 AGONIST TREATMENT

TAGLIAFERRO, P; RAMOS, AJ; ONAIVE, E.; EVRARD, S.; DUHALDE VEGA, M; BRUSCO, A

Methods in Molecular Medicine. Marijuana and Cannabinoid Research: Methods and Protocols

Año: 2006; p. 91 - 104

One of the major goals for the use of digital image analysis systems in neuroantomy is to visualize structures, cells, or tissue components in order to compare various populations. In adittion, digital image analysis allows semi-quantification of cell labeling because it is capable of measuring simultaneously the staining intensity, location, size, and shape of labeled profiles. In the present work , the morphological changes in CB1 hippocampal area and corpus striatum induced by chronic traetment with synthetic CB1-receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 were analyzed as an example of digital image analysis application. Twicw-daily treatment for 14 d with the CB1-receptor agonist demostrated significant changes in the expression of neuronal cytoskeletal proteins and in neuronal morphology, as evidenced by immunocytochemical and digital analysis studies. However, changes in the expression of astroglial cytoskeletal proteins were not found.