Roxanne M. Kaercher

Riluzole Partially Rescues Age-Associated, but not LPS-Induced, Loss of Glutamate Transporters and Spatial Memory

Impaired memory may result from synaptic glutamatergic dysregulation related to chronic neuroinflammation. GLT1 is the primary excitatory amino acid transporter responsible for regulating extracellular glutamate levels in the hippocampus. We tested the hypothesis that if impaired spatial memory results from increased extracellular glutamate due to age or experimentally induced chronic neuroinflammation in the hippocampus, then pharmacological augmentation of the glutamate transporter GLT1 will attenuate deficits in a hippocampal-dependent spatial memory task. The profile of inflammation-related genes and proteins associated with normal aging, or chronic neuroinflammation experimentally-induced via a four-week LPS infusion into the IVth ventricle, were correlated with performance in the Morris water maze following treatment with Riluzole, a drug that can enhance glutamate clearance by increasing GLT1 expression. Age-associated inflammation was qualitatively different from LPS-induced neuro-inflammation in young rats. LPS produced a pro-inflammatory phenotype characterized by increased IL-1ß expression in the hippocampus, whereas aging was not associated with a strong central pro-inflammatory response but with a mixed peripheral immune phenotype. Riluzole attenuated the spatial memory impairment, the elevation of serum cytokines and the decrease in GLT1 gene expression in Aged rats, but had no effect on young rats infused with LPS. Our findings highlight the therapeutic potential of reducing glutamatergic function upon memory impairment in neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging.

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

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.

Differential effects of duration and age on the consequences of neuroinflammation in the hippocampus

The current study investigated the hypothesis that the duration of the proinflammatory environment plays a critical role in the brains response that results in negative consequences on cognition, biochemistry, and pathology. Lipopolysaccharide or artificial cerebrospinal fluid was slowly (250 ηg/h) infused into the fourth ventricle of young (3-month-old), adult (9-month-old), or aged (23-month-old) male F-344 rats for 21 or 56 days. The rats were then tested in the water pool task and endogenous hippocampal levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory proteins and genes and indicators of glutamatergic function were determined. The duration of the lipopolysaccharide infusion, compared with the age of the rat, had the greatest effect on (1) spatial working memory; (2) the density and distribution of activated microglia within the hippocampus; and (3) the cytokine protein and gene expression profiles within the hippocampus. The duration- and age-dependent consequences of neuroinflammation might explain why human adults respond positively to anti-inflammatory therapies and aged humans do not.

Time-Dependent Compensatory Responses to Chronic Neuroinflammation in Hippocampus and Brainstem: The Potential Role of Glutamate Neurotransmission

Chronic neuroinflammation is characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases and is present during very early stages, yet significant pathology and behavioral deficits do not manifest until advanced age. We investigated the consequences of experimentally-induced chronic neuroinflammation within the hippocampus and brainstem of young (4 mo) F-344 rats. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was infused continuously into the IVth ventricle for 2, 4 or 8 weeks. The number of MHC II immunoreactive microglia in the brain continued to increase throughout the infusion period. In contrast, performance in the Morris water maze was impaired after 4 weeks but recovered by 8 weeks. Likewise, a transient loss of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the substantia nigra and locus coeruleus was observed after 2 weeks, but returned to control levels by 4 weeks of continuous LPS infusion. These data suggest that direct activation of microglia is sufficient to drive, but not sustain, spatial memory impairment and a decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase production in young rats. Our previous studies suggest that chronic neuroinflammation elevates extracellular glutamate and that this elevation underlies the spatial memory impairment. In the current study, increased levels of GLT1 and SNAP25 in the hippocampus corresponded with the resolution of performance deficit. Increased expression of SNAP25 is consistent with reduced glutamate release from axonal terminals while increased GLT1 is consistent with enhanced clearance of extracellular glutamate. These data demonstrate the capacity of the brain to compensate for the presence of chronic neuroinflammation, despite continued activation of microglia, through changes in the regulation of the glutamatergic system.

Age-associated alterations in the time-dependent profile of pro- and anti-inflammatory proteins within the hippocampus in response to acute exposure to interleukin-1β.

The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β is known to play a role in several models of aging, neuroinflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we document a detailed time- and age-dependent pattern of pro- and anti-inflammatory biomarkers following bilateral intrahippocampal injection of interleukin-1β. During the first 12h several pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines increased in the aged (24 mo old) rats, some of which returned to baseline levels by 24h post-injection while others remained elevated for 72 h post-injection. In contrast, no such increases were observed in the young (3 mo old) rats. Interestingly, young rats up-regulated mRNA of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α, but did not translate these transcripts into functional proteins, which may be related to expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling type-2. These results contribute to our understanding of how neuroinflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative disorders due to an age-related bias towards a hyper-reactive immune response that is not selective for a pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotype following an inflammatory stimulus.

Differential rescue of spatial memory deficits in aged rats by L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel and ryanodine receptor antagonism

Age-associated memory impairments may result as a consequence of neuroinflammatory induction of intracellular calcium (Ca(+2)) dysregulation. Altered L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel (L-VDCC) and ryanodine receptor (RyR) activity may underlie age-associated learning and memory impairments. Various neuroinflammatory markers are associated with increased activity of both L-VDCCs and RyRs, and increased neuroinflammation is associated with normal aging. In vitro, pharmacological blockade of L-VDCCs and RyRs has been shown to be anti-inflammatory. Here, we examined whether pharmacological blockade of L-VDCCs or RyRs with the drugs nimodipine and dantrolene, respectively, could improve spatial memory and reduce age-associated increases in microglia activation. Dantrolene and nimodipine differentially attenuated age-associated spatial memory deficits but were not anti-inflammatory in vivo. Furthermore, RyR gene expression was inversely correlated with spatial memory, highlighting the central role of Ca(+2) dysregulation in age-associated memory deficits.