The dendritic trees of neurons from the hippocampal formation of protein-deprived adult rats. A quantitative Golgi study

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 1996

Authors

Andrade, JP (Author) FMUP; CastanheiraVale, AJ (Author) Other; PazDias, PG (Author) Other; Madeira, MD (Author) FMUP; PaulaBarbosa, MM (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Experimental Brain Research

Vol. 109

Pages: 419-433

ISSN: 0014-4819

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 39 Citations

Scopus - 39 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Medical and Health sciences > Basic medicine

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-001-E64

Abstract (EN): We have recently shown that lengthy periods of low-protein feeding of the adult rat lead to deficits in the number of hippocampal granule and pyramidal cells, and in the number of messy fiber synapses. These findings prompted us to analyze the dendrites of these neurons to evaluate whether, under the same experimental conditions, degenerative and/or plastic changes also take place at the dendritic level. The hippocampal formations from five 8-month-old rats fed a low-protein diet (casein 8%) for 6 months from the age of 2 months and from five age-matched controls were Golgi-impregnated and the morphology of the dendritic trees quantitatively studied. We found that in malnourished animals there was a reduction in the number of dendritic branches in the dentate granule cells and in the apical dendritic arborizations of CA3 pyramidal neurons. In addition, in the dentate granule cells the spine density was markedly increased and the terminal dendritic segments were elongated in malnourished animals. No alterations were found in the apical dendrites of CA1 pyramidal cells. The results obtained show that long periods of malnutrition induce marked, although not uniform, changes in the dendritic domain of the hippocampal neurons, which reflect the presence of both degenerating and regrowing mechanisms. These alterations are likely to affect the connectivity pattern of the hippocampal formation and, hence, the activity of the neuronal circuitries in which this region of the brain is involved.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 15