Age-Dependent Differences in Survival of Striatal Somatostatin–NPY–NADPH–Diaphorase-Containing Interneurons versus Striatal Projection Neurons after Intrastriatal Injection of Quinolinic Acid in Rats

doi:10.1006/exnr.1997.6549

Experimental Neurology

Volume 146, Issue 2, August 1997, Pages 444-457

https://doi.org/10.1006/exnr.1997.6549 Get rights and content

Abstract

Some authors have reported greater sparing of neurons containing somatostatin (SS)–neuropeptide Y (NPY)–NADPH-diaphorase (NADPHd) than projection neurons after intrastriatal injection of quinolinic acid (QA), an excitotoxin acting at NMDA receptors. Such findings have been used to support the NMDA receptor excitotoxin hypothesis of Huntington's disease (HD) and to claim that intrastriatal QA produces an animal model of HD. Other studies have, however, reported that SS/NPY/NADPHd interneurons are highly vulnerable to QA. We examined the influence of animal age (young versus mature), QA concentration (225 mMversus 50 mM), and injection speed (3 min versus 15 min) on the relative SS/NPY/NADPHd neuron survival in eight groups of rats that varied along these parameters to determine the basis of such prior discrepancies. Two weeks after QA injection, we analyzed the relative survival of neurons labeled by NADPHd histochemistry, SS/NPY immunohistochemistry, or cresyl violet staining (which stains all striatal neurons, the majority of which are projection neurons) in the so-called lesion transition zone (i.e., the zone of 40–60% neuronal survival). We found that age, and to a lesser extent injection speed, had a significant effect on relative SS/NPY/NADPHd interneuron survival. The NADPHd- and SS/NPY-labeled neurons typically survived better than projection neurons in young rats and more poorly in mature rats. This trend was greatly accentuated with fast QA injection. Age-related differences may be attributable to declines in projection neuron sensitivity to QA with age. Since rapid QA injections result in excitotoxin efflux, we interpret the effect of injection speed to suggest that brief exposure to a large dose of QA (with fast injection) may better accentuate the differential vulnerabilities of NADPHd/SS/NPY interneurons and projection neurons than does exposure to the same total amount of QA delivered more gradually (slow injection). These findings reconcile the discordant results found by previous authors and suggest that QA injected into rat striatum does reproduce the neurochemical traits of HD under some circumstances. These findings are consistent with a role of excitotoxicity in HD pathogenesis, and they also have implications for the basis of the more pernicious nature of striatal neuron loss in juvenile onset HD.

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Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and NPY receptors are widely expressed in the mammalian central nervous system. Studies in both humans and rodent models revealed that brain NPY levels are altered in some neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Machado-Joseph disease. In this review, we will focus on the roles of NPY in the pathological mechanisms of these disorders, highlighting NPY as a neuroprotective agent, as a neural stem cell proliferative agent, as an agent that increases trophic support, as a stimulator of autophagy and as an inhibitor of excitotoxicity and neuroinflammation. Moreover, the effect of NPY in some clinical manifestations commonly observed in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Machado-Joseph disease, such as depressive symptoms and body weight loss, are also discussed. In conclusion, this review highlights NPY system as a potential therapeutic target in neurodegenerative diseases.
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Basal ganglia injury after hypoxia-ischemia remains common in preterm infants, and is closely associated with later cerebral palsy. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that a highly selective neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor, JI-10, would improve survival of striatal phenotypic neurons after profound asphyxia, and that the subsequent seizure burden and recovery of EEG are associated with neural outcome. 24 chronically instrumented preterm fetal sheep were randomized to either JI-10 (3 ml of 0.022 mg/ml, n = 8) or saline (n = 8) infusion 15 min before 25 min complete umbilical cord occlusion, or saline plus sham-occlusion (n = 8). Umbilical cord occlusion was associated with reduced numbers of calbindin-28k-, GAD-, NPY-, PV-, Calretinin- and nNOS-positive striatal neurons (p < 0.05 vs. sham occlusion) but not ChAT-positive neurons. JI-10 was associated with increased numbers of calbindin-28k-, GAD-, nNOS-, NPY-, PV-, Calretinin- and ChAT-positive striatal neurons (p < 0.05 vs. saline + occlusion). Seizure burden was strongly associated with loss of calbindin-positive cells (p < 0.05), greater seizure amplitude was associated with loss of GAD-positive cells (p < 0.05), and with more activated microglia in the white matter tracts (p < 0.05). There was no relationship between EEG power after 7 days recovery and total striatal cell loss, but better survival of NPY-positive neurons was associated with lower EEG power. In summary, these findings suggest that selective nNOS inhibition during asphyxia is associated with protection of phenotypic striatal projection neurons and has potential to help reduce basal ganglia injury in some premature babies.
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Moreover, PDE10A expression does not change with TP10 treatment in HD animals. In recent years, many studies have investigated the mechanisms by which certain neurons are more vulnerable, and certain neurons more resistant, to HD degeneration (Chen et al., 1998; Figueredo-Cardenas et al., 1997; Fusco et al., 1999; Sun et al., 2002a,b). In a previous study, our group showed that striatal cholinergic interneurons contain higher amounts of BDNF, which is essential for striatal survival and is greatly decreased in HD, compared to the more vulnerable medium spiny neurons (Fusco et al., 2001).
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These models simultaneously induce motor deficits and striatal pathological changes similar to HD. In QA and 3-NP models, a clear demarcation of the site of striatal damage is visible, with a lesion core of extensive destruction surrounded by the transition zone with lesser damage (Huang et al., 1995; Figueredo-Cardenas et al., 1997). A similar region of lesser neuronal loss called the penumbra also surrounds the site of severe damage in ischemic cerebral damage.
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Regular ArticleAge-Dependent Differences in Survival of Striatal Somatostatin–NPY–NADPH–Diaphorase-Containing Interneurons versus Striatal Projection Neurons after Intrastriatal Injection of Quinolinic Acid in Rats☆

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Age-Dependent Differences in Survival of Striatal Somatostatin–NPY–NADPH–Diaphorase-Containing Interneurons versus Striatal Projection Neurons after Intrastriatal Injection of Quinolinic Acid in Rats☆