Factors involved in inflammation-induced developmental white matter damage

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2009.01.021

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 451, Issue 3, 27 February 2009, Pages 232-236

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2009.01.021 Get rights and content

Abstract

Developmental white matter damage is a brain pathology associated with several long-term neurological disorders. An inflammatory insult has been suggested as the major instigating event. This study investigated the relative influence of inflammation, blood–brain barrier permeability and glial ontogeny in white matter damage. Systemic inflammation was induced in Monodelphis domestica (opossum) by serial intraperitoneal injections of lipopolysaccharide at different stages of brain development. Volume of white matter was estimated for the external capsule. Blood–brain barrier permeability was assessed immunocytochemically. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure relative levels of mRNA for IL-1β, IL-6 and COX-2. Developmental changes in numbers and appearance of microglia and astrocytes were estimated. Results showed that in response to systemic inflammation, white matter was reduced in the external capsule during a circumscribed period only. At the same developmental stage blood–brain barrier permeability was altered, cerebral inflammatory response was present and numbers of microglia increased. However, the periods of altered blood–brain barrier permeability and the cerebral inflammatory response were longer than the period of the external capsule's susceptibility to white matter damage, which coincided with the developmental increase in the number of astrocytes in this tract. Thus, the mechanism of white matter damage following systemic inflammation is multifactorial, including cerebral inflammation and breakdown of brain barriers occurring simultaneously at specific stages of glial cell development.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. The Authors would also like to thank Jessie Truettner from the University of Miami for her help with primer design and validation.

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Neuroscience Letters

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

References (21)

Identification and validation of housekeeping genes as internal control for gene expression in an intravenous LPS inflammation model in chickens

Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol.

Proteins in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma of postnatal Monodelphis domestica (grey short-tailed opossum)

Comp. Biochem. Physiol. B

Minocycline attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced white matter injury in the neonatal rat brain

Neuroscience

Disturbance of oligodendrocyte development, hypomyelination and white matter injury in the neonatal rat brain after intracerebral injection of lipopolysaccharide

Brain Res. Dev. Brain Res.

Role of interleukin-6 in lipopolysaccharide-induced brain injury and behavioral dysfunction in neonatal rats

Neuroscience

Experimentally induced intrauterine infection causes fetal brain white matter lesions in rabbits

Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol.

Selective vulnerability of late oligodendrocyte progenitors to hypoxia-ischemia

J. Neurosci.

Late oligodendrocyte progenitors coincide with the developmental window of vulnerability for human perinatal white matter injury

J. Neurosci.

Myelin basic protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein in human fetal brain

Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol.

Maternal intrauterine infection, cytokines, and brain damage in the preterm newborn

Pediatr. Res.

Cited by (36)

Association between peripheral inflammation and free-water imaging in Major Depressive Disorder before and after ketamine treatment – A pilot study

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Quantification of neurotransmitters in microdialysate samples following quetiapine dosing to schizophrenia phenotyped rats using a validated LC-MS/MS method

Mechanisms of brain injury in newborn infants associated with the fetal inflammatory response syndrome

TNF deficiency causes alterations in the spatial organization of neurogenic zones and alters the number of microglia and neurons in the cerebral cortex

Structural brain abnormalities in patients with inflammatory illness acquired following exposure to water-damaged buildings: A volumetric MRI study using NeuroQuant®