Simin Mohseni

Genistein ameliorates learning and memory deficits in amyloid β(1–40) rat model of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by increased β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and neuronal dysfunction leading to impaired learning and recall. Ageing, heredity, and induced oxidative stress are among proposed risk factors. The increased frequency of the disease in women also suggests a role for estrogen in development of AD. In the present study, effects of the phytoestrogen genistein (10mg/kg) on learning and memory impairments was assessed in intrahippocampal Aβ(1-40)-injected rats. The estrogen receptor antagonist fulvestrant was injected intracerebroventricularly in a group of Aβ-lesioned rats. The Aβ-injected animals exhibited the following: lower spontaneous alternation score in Y-maze tasks, impaired retention and recall capability in the passive avoidance test, and fewer correct choices and more errors in the RAM task. Genistein, but not genistein and fulvestrant, significantly improved most of these parameters. Measurements of oxidative stress markers in hippocampal tissue of Aβ-injected rats showed an elevation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitrite content, and a reduction of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Genistein significantly attenuated the increased MDA content but did not affect the nitrite content or SOD activity. These results indicate that genistein pretreatment ameliorates Aβ-induced impairment of short-term spatial memory in rats through an estrogenic pathway and by inducing attenuation of oxidative stress.

Neuropathy in diabetic BB/Wor rats treated with insulin implants

Abstract To elucidate the pathophysiology of diabetic neuropathy many workers have examined nerve specimens from diabetic rats. While most workers found that animals with high blood glucose levels develop neuropathy, some researchers report that the peripheral nerves are normal in hyperglycaemic rats. Hypoglycaemia may also cause neuropathy. Some workers suggest that neuropathy is linked to fluctuations of the blood glucose level. In the present study we examine plantar nerves of diabetic BB/ Wor rats maintained on an eu-/hyperglycaemic or an eu-/ hypoglycaemic regime with insulin implants. Treatment with implants worked well. Light microscopic examination of nerve fibres in non-diabetic control rats and in eu-/ hyperglycaemic diabetic rats showed a normal picture. Preparations from eu-/hypoglycemic rats showed irregular myelin sheaths and signs of Wallerian degeneration. The lengths and diameters of the largest internodes were significantly subnormal. We conclude, that periodic moderate hypoglycaemia, but not periodic moderate hyperglycaemia, elicits neuropathy in diabetic BB/Wor rats treated with insulin implants.

Naringenin improves learning and memory in an Alzheimer's disease rat model: Insights into the underlying mechanisms

Alzheimers disease (AD) is one of the prevalent neurological disorders of the central nervous system hallmarked by increased beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and ensuing learning and memory deficit. In the present study, the beneficial effect of naringenin on improvement of learning and memory was evaluated in an Alzheimers disease rat model. The Aβ-injected rats showed a lower alternation score in Y-maze task, impairment of retention and recall capability in passive avoidance test, and lower correct choices and higher errors in radial arm maze (RAM) task as compared to sham group in addition to enhanced oxidative stress and apoptosis. Naringenin, but not a combination of naringenin and fulvestrant (an estrogenic receptor antagonist) significantly improved the performance of Aβ-injected rats in passive avoidance and RAM tasks. Naringenin pretreatment of Aβ-injected rats also lowered hippocampal malondialdehyde (MDA) with no significant effect on nitrite and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in addition to lowering apoptosis. These results suggest naringenin pretreatment attenuates Aβ-induced impairment of learning and memory through mitigation of lipid peroxidation and apoptosis and its beneficial effect is somewhat mediated via estrogenic pathway.

Hypoglycaemic neuropathy in BB/Wor rats treated with insulin implants: electron microscopic observations.

Abstract Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease that causes long-term secondary complications such as neuropathy. The occurrence of diabetic neuropathy has generally been thought of as being associated with hyperglycaemia. However, in a previous light microscopic examination of plantar nerves in diabetic BB/Wor rats treated with insulin implants we found that eu-/hyperglycaemic rats present a normal picture, whereas eu-/hypoglycaemic rats show severe changes. The aim of the present work is to supplement our previous light microscopic report with electron microsocpic data from the lateral plantar nerve of normal, eu-/hyperglycaemic and eu-/hypoglycaemic BB/Wor rats. Under the electron microscope lateral plantar nerves collected from eu-/hyperglycaemic rats presented a qualitatively normal picture. In addition, the fibre numbers and the size distribution of the myelinated fibres were normal. In contrast, specimens from eu-/hypoglycaemic BB/Wor rats showed severe qualitative changes, interpreted as signs of axonal de- and regeneration. The total number of axons was somewhat subnormal and the sizes of the myelinated fibres were strongly shifted towards smaller diameters. These data confirm our previous light microscopic observations. We conclude that eu-/hypoglycaemic BB/Wor rats treated with insulin implants, but not similarly treated eu-/hyperglycaemic animals, develop a neuropathy in their plantar nerves.

Genistein inhibits aggregation of exogenous amyloid-beta1–40 and alleviates astrogliosis in the hippocampus of rats

We addressed the question of whether injection of Amyloid beta (Aβ)(1-40) in the rat brain is associated with pathology in the hippocampus, and if genistein has any protective effect against the neuronal damage caused by Aβ(1-40). Genistein is a plant-derived compound with a structure similar to that of the female sex hormone estrogen and it was recently shown that pretreatment with a single dose of genistein ameliorated learning and memory deficits in an (Aβ)(1-40) rat model of Alzheimers disease. Here, we report that injection of the amyloid peptide into the hippocampus of rats led to formation of Aβ(1-40) positive aggregates close to the lateral blade of the dentate gyrus (DGlb). We also observed the following in the hippocampus: extensive cell death in the DGlb (P<0.0001), CA1 (P=0.03), and CA3 (P=0.002); an increased number of iNOS-expressing cells (P=0.01) and gliosis. Genistein given to rats by gavage 1h before injection of Aβ(1-40) inhibited the formation of Aβ(1-40) positive aggregates in the brain tissue and led to increased number of nNOS(+) (P=0.0001) cells in the hippocampus compared to sham-operated genistein-treated controls. Treatment with genistein also alleviated the extensive astrogliosis that occurred in Aβ(1-40)-injected hippocampus to a level similar to that observed in sham-operated rats. We conclude that the neurons in the DGlb are most sensitive to Aβ(1-40), and a single dose of genistein can ameliorate Aβ(1-40) induced pathology.

Amyloid Beta1-40-Induced Astrogliosis and the Effect of Genistein Treatment in Rat: A Three-Dimensional Confocal Morphometric and Proteomic Study

Astrocytes are highly involved in regulation and homeostasis of the extracellular environment in the healthy brain. In pathological conditions, these cells play a major role in the inflammatory response seen in CNS tissues, which is called reactive astrogliosis and includes hypertrophy and proliferation of astrocytes. Here, we performed 3D confocal microscopy to evaluate the morphological response of reactive astrocytes positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in rats, to the presence of Aβ1–40 in the rat brain before and after treatment with genistein. In 50 astrocytes per animal, we measured the volume and surface area for the nucleus, cell body, the entire cell, the tissue covered by single astrocytes and quantified the number and length of branches, the density of the astrocytes and the intensity of GFAP immunoreactivity. Injecting Aβ1–40 into the brain of rats caused astrogliosis indicated by increased values for all measured parameters. Mass spectrometric analysis of hippocampal tissue in Aβ1–40-injected brain showed decreased amounts of tubulins, enolases and myelin basic protein, and increased amounts of dihydropyrimidinase-related protein 2. In Aβ1–40-injected rats pretreated with genistein, GFAP intensity was decreased to the sham-operated group level, and Aβ1–40-induced astrogliosis was significantly ameliorated.

Differential neuropathies in hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic diabetic rats

We investigated the effects of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia on development of peripheral neuropathy in somatic motor and sensory nerves in type 1 diabetic BB/Wor rats. The animals were maintained in a hyper- or hypoglycemic state by treatment with insulin for 3 months. Nondiabetic siblings served as controls. Qualitative analysis of the gastrocnemius and sural nerves by light and electron microscopy revealed signs of Wallerian-type axonal degeneration and regeneration of large myelinated fibers in the hypoglycemic but not the hyperglycemic animals. Degeneration was more common in the gastrocnemius nerve than in the sural nerve. In hypoglycemic rats, myelinated fibers in both the gastrocnemius and sural nerves had significantly shorter internodes and smaller diameters. The decreased fiber diameter was related (r = −0.9) to the duration of severe hypoglycemia (≤2.5 mmol/L). Myelinated fiber occupancy was also decreased without any significant changes in fiber counts in both the gastrocnemius and sural nerves. In hyperglycemic rats, myelinated fibers in the sural nerve but not the gastrocnemius nerve had smaller diameters compared with controls. We conclude that hypoglycemia has a more severe impact on somatic motor nerves than on somatic sensory nerves, whereas hyperglycemia affects only somatic sensory nerves.

Hypoglycaemia causes degeneration of large myelinated nerve fibres in the vagus nerve of insulin-treated diabetic BB/Wor rats

The aim of this study was to find out whether dysglycaemia causes neuropathy in the vagus nerve of insulin-treated diabetic BB/Wor rats. Specimens were collected from the left vagus nerve proximal and distal to the level of recurrent laryngeal branch and from the recurrent branch itself in control rats and diabetic BB/Wor rats subjected to hyper- or hypoglycaemia. Myelinated and unmyelinated axons were counted and myelinated axon diameters were measured by electron microscopy. In controls, the vagus nerve proximal to the recurrent branch exhibited three regions in terms of fibre composition: part A was mainly composed of large myelinated axons, part B contained small myelinated and unmyelinated axons, and part C contained mainly unmyelinated axons. The distal level resembled part C at the proximal level and the recurrent branch resembled parts A and B. In hyperglycaemic rats, a normal picture was found at the proximal and distal levels of the vagus nerve and in the recurrent branch. In hypoglycaemic rats, signs of past and ongoing degeneration and regeneration of large myelinated axons were found at the proximal and distal levels and in the recurrent branch. We conclude that hypoglycaemia elicits degenerative alterations in large myelinated axons in the vagus and recurrent laryngeal nerves in diabetic BB/Wor rats. The absence of signs of neuropathy in unmyelinated and small myelinated axons suggests that the sensory and autonomic components of the nerve are less affected. In contrast, the hyperglycaemic rats examined here did not show obvious degenerative alterations.

Autophagy in insulin-induced hypoglycaemic neuropathy

Aim: Autophagy in neurons has been linked to a growing number of pathological conditions in the CNS, but the role of this process in peripheral neuropathy has received little attention. This study aimed to determine whether autophagy is involved in development of peripheral neuropathy in hypoglycaemic diabetic rats. Methods: The lateral plantar nerves, ventral roots, and dorsal roots of insulin-treated diabetic hypoglycaemic rats were examined for structural signs of autophagy by electron microscopy. Results: Autophagy-associated vacuoles were found in myelinated axons exhibiting early pathological changes but not in the associated Schwann cells. When the damaged axons degenerated, their associated Schwann cells gradually died and were cleared from the endoneurium by macrophages. During axonal regeneration, extensive signs of autophagy-related structures such as autophagophores appeared in regenerating axons and in the cytoplasm of the associated Schwann cells in the Band of Büngner. Conclusion: Autophagy occurs in hypoglycaemic peripheral nerves in association with axonal de- and regeneration. The extensive signs of autophagy in regenerated axons suggest that autophagy may play a role in survival of the new axons.

Hypoglycaemic neuropathy in diabetic BB/Wor rats treated with insulin implants affects ventral root axons but not dorsal root axons.

Abstract It is believed that hyperglycaemia underlies diabetic neuropathy. However, low blood glucose values may also cause pathological changes in peripheral nerves and in neuronal perikarya. This study examined spinal roots, dorsal root ganglia and the ventral horn at the segmental level L5 in long-term insulin-treated eu-/hypoglycaemic diabetic rats with an obvious plantar nerve pathology. The purpose was to determine whether hypoglycaemic neuropathy affects sensory and/or motor neurons at root and/or perikaryal levels. Electron microscopic examination of dorsal roots from eu-/hypoglycaemic rats showed a normal qualitative morphology and normal numbers of unmyelinated and myelinated axons. In ventral roots the picture varied. Whereas two rats exhibited an essentially normal morphology, three rats presented moderate or marked signs of pathology such as clusters of small and medium-sized myelinated axons, medium-sized myelinated axons with abnormally thin sheaths, large unmyelinated axons and signs of past or ongoing axonal degeneration. Light microscopic examination of the L5 dorsal root ganglion and ventral horn showed a qualitatively normal picture in eu-/hypoglycaemic rats and the mean number of large ventral horn neurons per section was normal. These results suggest that the type of eu-/hypoglycaemia examined here affects ventral root axons but not dorsal root axons, that the degree of ventral root pathology is variable and that sensory and motor neuron perikarya do not appear to be affected.