Restorative effect of intracerebroventricular insulin-like growth factor-I gene therapy on motor performance in aging rats.

NISHIDA FABIAN; MOREL G; HEREÑU C; SCHWERDT J; GOYA R; PORTIANSKY E

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 17 p. 195 - 195

b> Abstract—Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a powerful neuroprotective molecule in the brain and spinal cord. We have previously shown that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) IGF-I gene therapy is an effective strategy to increase IGF-I levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Since aging in rats is associated with severe motor function deterioration, we implemented i.c.v. IGF-I gene therapy in very old rats (30–31 months) and assessed the beneficial impact on motor performance. We used recombinant adenovectors (RAds) expressing either green fluorescent protein (GFP) or rat IGF-I. Injection in the lateral or fourth ventricle led to high transgene expression in the ep