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Age and duration of inflammatory environment differentially affect the neuroimmune response and catecholaminergic neurons in the midbrain and brainstem.

ABSTRACT: Neuroinflammation and degeneration of ascending catecholaminergic systems occur early in the neurodegenerative process. Age and the duration of a pro-inflammatory environment induced by continuous intraventricular lipopolysaccharide (LPS) differentially affect the expression profile of pro- and anti-inflammatory genes and proteins as well as the number of activated microglia (express major histocompatibility complex II; MHC II) and the integrity and density of ascending catecholaminergic neural systems originating from the locus coeruleus (LC) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in rats. LPS infusion increased gene expression and/or protein levels for both pro- and anti-inflammatory biomarkers. Although LPS infusion stimulated a robust increase in IL-1ß gene and protein expression, this increase was blunted with age. LPS infusion also increased the density of activated microglia cells throughout the midbrain and brainstem. Corresponding to the development of a pro-inflammatory environment, LC and SNpc neurons immunopositive for tyrosine-hydroxylase (the rate-limiting synthetic enzyme for dopamine and norepinephrine) decreased in number, along with a decrease in tyrosine-hydroxylase gene expression in the midbrain and/or brainstem region. Our data support the concept that continuous exposure to a pro-inflammatory environment drives exaggerated changes in the production and release of inflammatory mediators that interact with age to impair functional capacity of the SNpc and LC.

SUBMITTER: Bardou I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3946275 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a chronic sleep disorder characterized by repetitive reduction or cessation of airflow during sleep, is widely prevalent and is associated with adverse neurocognitive sequelae including increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In humans, OSA is more common in elderly males. OSA is characterized by sleep fragmentation and chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), and recent epidemiological studies point to CIH as the best predictor of neurocognitive sequelae associated with OSA. The sex- and age- specific effects of OSA-associated CIH on specific cell populations such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic neurons in the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), regions important for cognitive function, remain largely unknown. The present study examined the effect of 35 days of either moderate (10% oxygen) or severe (5% oxygen) CIH on GABAergic neurons in the mPFC and hippocampus of young and aged male and female mice as well as post-accelerated ovarian failure (AOF) female mice. In the mPFC and hippocampus, the number of GABA-labeled neurons increased in aged and young severe CIH males compared to controls but not in young moderate CIH males. This change was not representative of the individual GABAergic cell subpopulations, as the number of parvalbumin-labeled neurons decreased while the number of somatostatin-labeled neurons increased in the hippocampus of severe CIH young males only. In all female groups, the number of GABA-labeled cells was not different between CIH and controls. However, in the mPFC, CIH increased the number of parvalbumin-labeled neurons in young females and the number of somatostatin-labeled cells in AOF females but decreased the number of somatostatin-labeled cells in aged females. In the hippocampus, CIH decreased the number of somatostatin-labeled neurons in young females. CIH decreased the density of vesicular GABA transporter in the mPFC of AOF females only. These findings suggest sex-specific changes in GABAergic neurons in the hippocampus and mPFC with males showing an increase of this cell population as compared to their female counterparts following CIH. Age at exposure and severity of CIH also differentially affect the GABAergic cell population in mice.

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Age and duration of inflammatory environment differentially affect the neuroimmune response and catecholaminergic neurons in the midbrain and brainstem.

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