Early Cognitive Impairment Behind Nigrostriatal Circuit Neurotoxicity: Are Astrocytes Involved?

HERRERA, MACARENA L.; DEZA-PONZIO, ROMINA; GHERSI, MARISA S.; DE LA?VILLARMOIS, EMILCE A.; VIRGOLINI, MIRIAM B.; PÉREZ, MARIELA F.; MOLINA, VICTOR A.; BELLINI, MARÍA J.; HEREÑÚ, CLAUDIA B.

ASN Neuro

SAGE Publications Inc.

Año: 2020 vol. 12

ognitive dysfunction is one of the most severe nonmotor symptoms of nigrostriatal impairment. This occurs as a result of profound functional and morphological changes of different neuronal circuits, including modifications in the plasticity and architecture of hippocampal synapses. Such alterations can be implicated in the genesis and progression of dementia associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson-like symptoms. There are few studies regarding cognitive changes in nigrostriatal animal models. The aim of this study was to characterize the onset of memory deficit after induction of neurotoxicity with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and its correlation with hippocampal dysfunction. For this, we bilaterally microinjected 6-OHDA in dorsolateral Caudate-Putamen unit (CPu) and then, animals were tested weekly for working memory, spatial short-term memory, and motor performance. We evaluated tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) as a dopamine marker, aldehyde dehydroge