Immune Activation in Pregnant Rats Affects Brain Glucose Consumption, Anxiety-like Behaviour and Recognition Memory in their Male Offspring.

Purpose: Prenatal infection during pregnancy is a risk factor for schizophrenia, as well as for other developmental psychiatric disorders, such as autism and bipolar disorder. Schizophrenia patients were reported to have altered brain metabolism and neuroinflammation. However, the link between prenatal infection, altered brain inflammation and metabolism, and schizophrenia remains unclear.

PET Imaging with S-[C]Methyl-L-Cysteine and L-[Methyl-C]Methionine in Rat Models of Glioma, Glioma Radiotherapy, and Neuroinflammation.

Purpose: S-[C]-methyl-L-cysteine ([C]MCYS) has been claimed to offer higher tumor selectivity than L-[methyl- C]methionine ([C]MET). We examined this claim in animal models.

Procedures: Rats with implanted untreated (n = 10) or irradiated (n = 7, 1 × 25 Gy, on day 8) orthotopic gliomas were scanned after 6, 9, and 12 days, using positron emission tomography.

Contribution of neuroinflammation to changes in [C]flumazenil binding in the rat brain: Evaluation of the inflamed pons as reference tissue.

Introduction: [C]Flumazenil is a well-known PET tracer for GABA receptors and is mainly used as an imaging biomarker for neuronal loss. Recently, GABA receptors on immune cells have been investigated as target for modulation of inflammation. Since neuronal loss is often accompanied by neuroinflammation, PET imaging with [C]flumazenil is potentially affected by infiltrating immune cells.

Mapping of the rat's motor area after hemispherectomy: The hemispheres as potentially independent motor brains.

Purpose: The remarkable motor recovery observed after hemispherectomy in patients and experimental animals has puzzled investigators, as it defies classic jacksonian neurology. Several mechanisms for this phenomenon have been considered, such as neuronal sprouting to subcortical structures, neurochemical changes, and cerebellar diaschisis. The spared hemisphere may, however, play a crucial part in this functional recovery.