The memory consolidation impairment induced by Interleukin-1beta could be associated to changes in hippocampal structural plasticity

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 2nd FALAN Congress; 2016

Federation of Latin American and Caribbean Neuroscience Societies

Pro-inflammatory cytokines can affect cognitive processes, such as learning and memory. Accordingly, high levels of interleukin-1beta (IL-1b) in the brain could impair memory and also cytokines participated in detrimental changes in cognitive functions observed during neurodegenerative diseases. Particularly, IL-1b influences the consolidation and reconsolidation of hippocampus-dependent memories. We previously reported that administration of IL-1b in dorsal hippocampus (DH) impaired contextual fear memory consolidation. We also showed that IL-1b administration produced a decrease in glutamate release from DH synaptosomes and decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression after contextual fear conditioning. Considering that BDNF plays an important role in synaptic plasticity, in this study we evaluated if IL-1b could induce changes in hippocampal structural plasticity. Preliminary results show that the impairment of contextual fear memory following the IL-1b treatment was associated with a decrement in spine density in the DH, particularly in the mature dendritic spines (mushroom and stubby) without changes in immature dendritic spines (thin). Our data suggests that neuroinflammation interferes with experience-dependent structural plasticity in DH.