Premium
Fatherhood diminishes the hippocampal damaging action of excitotoxic lesioning in mice
Author(s) -
Anagnostou Ilektra,
Morales Teresa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of neuroendocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1365-2826
pISSN - 0953-8194
DOI - 10.1111/jne.12783
Subject(s) - astrogliosis , endocrinology , medicine , neun , hippocampus , kainic acid , hippocampal formation , excitotoxicity , dentate gyrus , biology , glial fibrillary acidic protein , forebrain , central nervous system , nmda receptor , glutamate receptor , receptor , immunohistochemistry
Abstract Parental experience imposes neuroplasticity in the hippocampus of females and males. In lactating rat dams, the hippocampus is protected against excitotoxic damage by kainic acid lesioning, although it is still unknown whether paternity can provide such protection to male rodents. To evaluate the protective effects of fatherhood against excitotoxic lesions, we paired male mice with females and co‐housed them until the day of parturition ( PPD 0), when we randomly assigned them to two groups: (i) the pregnancy group (males housed individually overnight and injected i.c.v. with 100 ng per 1 μL of kainic acid or vehicle on PPD 1) and (ii) the sire group (males housed with the dam and pups until PPD 8, when injected i.c.v. after evaluation of parental behaviour). Individually housed virgin adult male mice formed the control group. Markers of neurodegeneration (NeuN, Fluoro‐Jade C) and astrogliosis (glial fibrillary acidic protein) were evaluated in fixed cerebral tissue containing the dorsal CA 1, CA 3 and CA 4 hippocampal subfields. The CA 1 subfield did not suffer damage in any of the experimental groups. The sire group exhibited less neurodegeneration and astrogliosis in the CA 3 and CA 4 subfields compared to their respective controls, independently of the expression of parental behaviour. Western blot analysis was conducted for prolactin ( PRL ), PRL receptor and related intracellular pathways. Monomeric PRL was lower in the hippocampus of sires in the first week postpartum with a parallel rise of a 48‐ kD a dimerised isoform compared to virgin controls. The long isoform of PRL receptor did not change, and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) was not detected in the hippocampus. However, a sustained rise in pA kt, a signalling molecule that participates in cell survival, was observed in the sire group. These results indicate that the hippocampus of sires housed with the dam and pups is less sensitive to neurotoxic injury, which might not be primarily regulated by PRL ‐ STAT 5‐modulated mechanisms.