Effects of neonatal enucleation on catecholamine and serotonin turnover and amino acid levels in lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex of the adult rat

Metabolic changes in the visual cortex of binocular blindness macaque monkeys: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Purpose

To evaluate proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in a study of cross-modal plasticity in the visual cortex of binocular blindness macaque monkeys.

Materials and Methods

Four healthy neonatal macaque monkeys were randomly divided into 2 groups, with 2 in each group. Optic nerve transection was performed in both monkeys in the experimental group (group B) to obtain binocular blindness. Two healthy macaque monkeys served as a control group (group A). After sixteen months post-procedure, ¹H-MRS was performed in the visual cortex of all monkeys. We compared the peak areas of NAA, Cr, Cho, Glx and Ins and the ratios of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr, Glx/Cr and Ins/Cr of each monkey in group B with group A.

Results

The peak area of NAA and the NAA/Cr ratio in the visual cortex of monkey 4 in group B were found to be dramatically decreased, the peak area of NAA slightly decreased and the NAA/Cr ratio clearly decreased in visual cortex of monkey 3 in group B than those in group A. The peak area of Ins and the Ins/Cr ratio in the visual cortex of monkey 4 in group B slightly increased. The peak area of Cho and the Cho/Cr ratio in the visual cortex of all monkeys in group B dramatically increased compared with group A. The peak area of Glx in the visual cortex of all monkeys in group B slightly increased compared with group A.

Conclusions

¹H-MRS could detect biochemical and metabolic changes in the visual cortex and therefore this technique can be used to provide valuable information for investigating the mechanisms of cross-modal plasticity of binocular blindness in a macaque monkey model.

In vivo cerebral incorporation of radiolabeled fatty acids after acute unilateral orbital enucleation in adult hooded Long-Evans rats

We examined effects of acute unilateral enucleation on incorporation from blood of intravenously injected unsaturated [1-14C]arachidonic acid ([14C]AA) and [1-14C]docosahexaenoic acid ([14C]DHA), and of saturated [9,10-3H]palmitic acid ([3H]PA), into visual and nonvisual brain areas of awake adult Long-Evans hooded rats. Regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRglc) values also were assessed with 2-deoxy-D-[1-14C]glucose ([14C]DG). One day after unilateral enucleation, an awake rat was placed in a brightly lit visual stimulation box with black and white striped walls, and a radiolabeled fatty acid was infused for 5 min or [14C]DG was injected as a bolus. [14C]DG also was injected in a group of rats kept in the dark for 4 h. Fifteen minutes after starting an infusion of a radiolabeled fatty acid, or 45 min after injecting [14C]DG, the rat was killed and the brain was prepared for quantitative autoradiography. Incorporation coefficients k* of fatty acids, or rCMRglc values, were calculated in homologous brain regions contralateral and ipsilateral to enucleation. As compared with ipsilateral regions, rCMRglc was reduced significantly (by as much as -39%) in contralateral visual areas, including the superior colliculus, lateral geniculate body, and layers I, IV, and V of the primary (striate) and secondary (association, extrastriate) visual cortices. Enucleation did not affect incorporation of [3H]PA into contralateral visual regions, but reduced incorporation of [14C]AA and of [14C]DHA by -18.5 to -2.1%. Percent reductions were correlated with percent reductions in rCMRglc in most but not all regions. No effects were noted at any of nine non-visual structures that were examined. These results indicate that enucleation acutely reduces neuronal activity in contralateral visual areas of the awake rat and that the reductions are coupled to reduced incorporation of unsaturated fatty acids into sn-2 regions of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylethanolamine. Reduced fatty acid incorporation likely reflects reduced activity of phospholipases A2 and/or phospholipase C.

The effect of a vitamin E-deficient diet on amino acid levels in the substantia nigra, striatum and hippocampus of rats

The effects of a vitamin E deficiency diet for 15 days on amino acid concentrations have been studied in the substantia nigra, striatum and hippocampus of the rat. The substantia nigra showed an increase in glutamate and GABA and a decrease of tryptophan concentration compared with controls. In the striatum, aspartate and glycine decreased, no changes were found in the amino acid concentrations in the hippocampus. The substantia nigra and striatum showed opposite results-an increase and decrease of amino acids respectively. The increase of glutamate found in substantia nigra is particularly interesting as it may suggest possible links to degenerative processes. These results suggest that vitamin E could play a crucial role in substantia nigra degeneration and that the substantia nigra could be more sensitive to an oxidative stress than other brain structures.