PMID- 7477924
DA - 19951130
DCOM- 19951130
LR - 20001218
IS - 0306-4522
VI - 68
IP - 1
DP - 1995 Sep
TI - Synaptic loss in cognitively impaired aged rats is ameliorated by chronic human nerve growth factor infusion.
PG - 19-27 AB - In the present study, we assessed the synaptic changes in aged impaired and unimpaired rats, and the effect of exogenous human nerve growth factor administration on behavioral activity and synaptic density. Human nerve growth factor was administered into the rat ventricles with a cannula connected to an osmotic pump in adult, aged impaired and unimpaired rats. Behavioral performance was evaluated in the Morris water maze. Aged impaired rats had an 18 +/- 4% decrease in the number of synaptophysinimmunoreactive presynaptic terminals as compared to aged unimpaired rats. After a continuous four-week human nerve growth factor, the aged impaired rats displayed a significant 16 +/- 3% increase in the number of synaptophysin-immunoreactive presynaptic terminals in the frontal cortex, as compared to aged impaired rats treated with vehicle. This increase correlated with an improvement in water maze performance (r = -0.74, P < 0.001). Measurements of synaptophysin-immunoreactive presynaptic terminals in other cortical and subcortical regions did not show any statistically significant difference or correlations among the various groups. These results support the possibility that nerve growth factor mediates the induction of other trophic factors which, in turn, might potentially produce a sprouting response of non-cholinergic fibers that ameliorate the cognitive deficits in impaired, aged rats.
AD - University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, Department of
Neurosciences, La Jolla 92093-0624, USA.
FAU - Chen, K S
AU - Chen KS
FAU - Masliah, E
AU - Masliah E
FAU - Mallory, M
AU - Mallory M
FAU - Gage, F H
AU - Gage FH
LA - eng
ID - AG06088/AG/NIA
ID - AG10435/AG/NIA
ID - AG10689/AG/NIA
ID - etc.
PT - Journal Article
CY - ENGLAND
TA - Neuroscience
JID - 7605074
RN - 0 (Nerve Growth Factors)
RN - 0 (Synaptophysin)
SB - IM
MH - Aging/metabolism/*pathology
MH - Animal
MH - Cognition Disorders/metabolism/*pathology
MH - Female
MH - Human
MH - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
MH - Immunohistochemistry
MH - Injections, Intraventricular
MH - Maze Learning/drug effects
MH - Microscopy, Confocal
MH - Nerve Growth Factors/administration & dosage/*pharmacology
MH - Presynaptic Terminals/drug effects/metabolism
MH - Rats
MH - Rats, Inbred F344
MH - Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MH - Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MH - Synapses/drug effects/metabolism/*physiology
MH - Synaptophysin/metabolism
EDAT- 1995/09/01
MHDA- 1995/09/01 00:01
AID - 0306452295000995 [pii]
PST - ppublish
SO - Neuroscience 1995 Sep;68(1):19-27.