Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2004-8-12
pubmed:abstractText
Environmental stimuli during the perinatal period can result in persistent individual differences in neural viability and cognitive functions. Earlier studies have shown that brief daily maternal separation and/or handling of rat pups during the first weeks of life reduces stress reactivity during adulthood and attenuates neuronal loss and cognitive decline during aging. In the present study we examined whether neonatal handling also affects the sensitivity of the adult brain to an acute neurotoxic insult. Postnatally handled and nonhandled control rats were left undisturbed from weaning onwards until the age of 11 months. At this age, the animals were subjected to a neurotoxic challenge by unilateral infusion of 60 mM of the glutamate analogue N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). The brains were collected to measure cholinergic cell and fiber loss. In the nonlesioned side of the brain, cholinergic cell number in the NBM and fiber density in the cortex were not different between postnatally handled and control rats. However, in the lesioned hemisphere handled animals exhibited a significantly higher loss of choline-acetyltransferase-immunoreactive and acetylcholinesterase-positive fibers in the somatosensory cortex. The present results provide evidence for an enhanced vulnerability of postnatally handled rats to acute neurodegeneration in contrast to the previously reported attenuation of spontaneous aging-related neurodegenerative processes.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Sep
pubmed:issn
0022-3034
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
15
pubmed:volume
60
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
463-72
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Acetylcholine, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Acetylcholinesterase, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Animals, Newborn, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Basal Nucleus of Meynert, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Cell Death, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Choline O-Acetyltransferase, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Cholinergic Fibers, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Corticosterone, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Female, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Functional Laterality, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Handling (Psychology), pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Immunity, Innate, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Immunohistochemistry, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Male, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Maternal Deprivation, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-N-Methylaspartate, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Nerve Degeneration, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Neurotoxins, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Rats, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Rats, Wistar, pubmed-meshheading:15307150-Stress, Psychological
pubmed:year
2004
pubmed:articleTitle
Neonatal handling increases sensitivity to acute neurodegeneration in adult rats.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't