Journal
SYNAPSE
Volume 65, Issue 3, Pages 198-206Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/syn.20837
Keywords
hypertension; dendrites; Golgi-Cox stain; medial prefrontal cortex; pyramidal neurons; hippocampus; nucleus accumbens; medium spiny neurons
Categories
Funding
- VIEP-BUAP [FLAG-SAL10-G]
- PROMEP [BUAP-CA-120]
- CONACYT [129303]
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We have studied, in spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats at different ages (2, 4, and 8 months old), the dendritic morphological changes of the pyramidal neurons of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus and medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) induced by the chronic effect of high-blood pressure. As control animals, we used Wistar-Kioto (WK) rats. Blood pressure was measured every 2 months to confirm the increase in arterial blood pressure. Spontaneous locomotor activity was assessed, and then brains were removed to study the dendritic morphology by the Golgi-Cox stain method followed by Sholl analysis. SH animals at 4 and 8 months of age showed decreased spine density in pyramidal neurons from the mPFC and in medium spiny cells from the NAcc. At 8 months of age as well the pyramidal neurons from the hippocampus exhibited a reduction in the number of dendritic spines. An increase in locomotion in a novel environment at all ages in the SH rats was observed. Our results indicate that high-blood pressure alters the neuronal dendrite morphology of the mPFC, hippocampus, and NAcc. The increased locomotion behavior supports the idea that dopaminergic transmission is altered in the SH rats. This could enhance our understanding of the consequences of chronic high-blood pressure on brain structure, which may implicate cognitive impairment in hypertensive patients. Synapse 65:198-206, 2011. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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