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Diet-induced insulin resistance impairs hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognition in middle-aged rats.

ABSTRACT: Overall dietary energy intake, particularly the consumption of simple sugars such as fructose, has been increasing steadily in Western societies, but the effects of such diets on the brain are poorly understood. Here, we used functional and structural assays to characterize the effects of excessive caloric intake on the hippocampus, a brain region important for learning and memory. Rats fed with a high-fat, high-glucose diet supplemented with high-fructose corn syrup showed alterations in energy and lipid metabolism similar to clinical diabetes, with elevated fasting glucose and increased cholesterol and triglycerides. Rats maintained on this diet for 8 months exhibited impaired spatial learning ability, reduced hippocampal dendritic spine density, and reduced long-term potentiation at Schaffer collateral--CA1 synapses. These changes occurred concurrently with reductions in levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus. We conclude that a high-calorie diet reduces hippocampal synaptic plasticity and impairs cognitive function, possibly through BDNF-mediated effects on dendritic spines.

SUBMITTER: Stranahan AM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2694409 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diet-induced insulin resistance impairs hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognition in middle-aged rats.

Stranahan Alexis M AM Norman Eric D ED Lee Kim K Cutler Roy G RG Telljohann Richard S RS Egan Josephine M JM Mattson Mark P MP

Hippocampus 20080101 11

Overall dietary energy intake, particularly the consumption of simple sugars such as fructose, has been increasing steadily in Western societies, but the effects of such diets on the brain are poorly understood. Here, we used functional and structural assays to characterize the effects of excessive caloric intake on the hippocampus, a brain region important for learning and memory. Rats fed with a high-fat, high-glucose diet supplemented with high-fructose corn syrup showed alterations in energy ...[more]

PMID: 18651634

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Project description:Jaundice is one of the most common problems encountered in newborn infants, due to immaturity of hepatic conjugation and transport processes for bilirubin. Although the majority of neonatal jaundice is benign, some neonates with severe hyperbilirubinemia develop bilirubin encephalopathy or kernicterus. Accumulation of unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) in selected brain regions may result in temporary or permanent impairments of auditory, motor, or cognitive function; however, the molecular mechanisms by which UCB elicits such neurotoxicity are still poorly understood. The present study is undertaken to investigate whether prolonged exposure of rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures to UCB alters the induction of long-term synaptic plasticity.Using electrophysiological recording techniques, we find that exposure of hippocampal slice cultures to clinically relevant concentrations of UCB for 24 or 48 h results in an impairment of CA1 long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) induction in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Hippocampal slice cultures stimulated with UCB show no changes in the secretion profiles of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or the propidium ioide uptake. UCB treatment produced a significant decrease in the levels of NR1, NR2A and NR2B subunits of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors through a calpain-mediated proteolytic cleavage mechanism. Pretreatment of the hippocampal slice cultures with NMDA receptor antagonist or calpain inhibitors effectively prevented the UCB-induced impairment of LTP and LTD.Our results indicate that the proteolytic cleavage of NMDA receptor subunits by calpain may play a critical role in mediating the UCB-induced impairment of long-term synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. These observations provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying UCB-induced impairment of hippocampal synaptic plasticity which, in turn, might provide opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic strategies that targets these pathways for treatment.

Project description:UnlabelledAlterations in cAMP signaling are thought to contribute to neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders. Members of the cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) family, which contains >25 different isoforms, play a key role in determining spatial cAMP degradation so as to orchestrate compartmentalized cAMP signaling in cells. Each isoform binds to a different set of protein complexes through its unique N-terminal domain, thereby leading to targeted degradation of cAMP in specific intracellular compartments. However, the functional role of specific compartmentalized PDE4 isoforms has not been examined in vivo Here, we show that increasing protein levels of the PDE4A5 isoform in mouse hippocampal excitatory neurons impairs a long-lasting form of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and attenuates hippocampus-dependent long-term memories without affecting anxiety. In contrast, viral expression of a truncated version of PDE4A5, which lacks the unique N-terminal targeting domain, does not affect long-term memory. Further, overexpression of the PDE4A1 isoform, which targets a different subset of signalosomes, leaves memory undisturbed. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer sensor-based cAMP measurements reveal that the full-length PDE4A5, in contrast to the truncated form, hampers forskolin-mediated increases in neuronal cAMP levels. Our study indicates that the unique N-terminal localization domain of PDE4A5 is essential for the targeting of specific cAMP-dependent signaling underlying synaptic plasticity and memory. The development of compounds to disrupt the compartmentalization of individual PDE4 isoforms by targeting their unique N-terminal domains may provide a fruitful approach to prevent cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive disorders that are associated with alterations in cAMP signaling.Significance statementNeurons exhibit localized signaling processes that enable biochemical cascades to be activated selectively in specific subcellular compartments. The phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) family coordinates the degradation of cAMP, leading to the local attenuation of cAMP-dependent signaling pathways. Sleep deprivation leads to increased hippocampal expression of the PDE4A5 isoform. Here, we explored whether PDE4A5 overexpression mimics behavioral and synaptic plasticity phenotypes associated with sleep deprivation. Viral expression of PDE4A5 in hippocampal neurons impairs long-term potentiation and attenuates the formation of hippocampus-dependent long-term memories. Our findings suggest that PDE4A5 is a molecular constraint on cognitive processes and may contribute to the development of novel therapeutic approaches to prevent cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive disorders that are associated with alterations in cAMP signaling.

Dataset Information

Diet-induced insulin resistance impairs hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognition in middle-aged rats.

Publications

Diet-induced insulin resistance impairs hippocampal synaptic plasticity and cognition in middle-aged rats.

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