Isoxazole-9 reduces enhanced fear responses and retrieval in ethanol-dependent male rats.

Plasticity in the dentate gyrus (DG) is strongly influenced by ethanol, and ethanol experience alters long-term memory consolidation dependent on the DG. However, it is unclear if DG plasticity plays a role in dysregulation of long-term memory consolidation during abstinence from chronic ethanol experience. Outbred male Wistar rats experienced 7 weeks of chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure (CIE).

Evaluation of two distinct placental-derived membranes and their effect on tenocyte responses in vitro.

Tendon healing is a complex, multiphase process that results in increased scar tissue formation, leading to weaker tendons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the response of tenocytes to both hypothermically stored amniotic membrane (HSAM) and dehydrated amnion/chorion membrane (dACM). Composition and growth factor release from HSAM and dACM were evaluated using proteomics microarrays.

Tenocyte cell density, migration, and extracellular matrix deposition with amniotic suspension allograft.

Amniotic suspension allografts (ASA), derived from placental tissues, contain particulated amniotic membrane and amniotic fluid cells. Recently, ASA and other placental-derived allografts have been used in orthopaedic applications, including tendinopathies and tendon injuries. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential effects of ASA on tenocyte cell density, migration, and responses to inflammatory stimuli.

Hippocampal neural progenitor cells play a distinct role in fear memory retrieval in male and female CIE rats.

Adult male and female GFAP-TK transgenic rats experienced six weeks of chronic intermittent ethanol vapor inhalation (CIE). During the last week of CIE, a subset of male and female TK rats were fed with Valcyte to ablate neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Seventy-two hours after CIE cessation, all CIE and age-matched ethanol naïve controls experienced auditory trace fear conditioning (TFC).

Dietary restriction reduces hippocampal neurogenesis and granule cell neuron density without affecting the density of mossy fibers.

The hippocampal formation undergoes significant morphological and functional changes after prolonged caloric and dietary restriction (DR). In this study we tested whether prolonged DR results in deleterious alterations in hippocampal neurogenesis, density of granule cell neurons and mossy fibers, all of which support plasticity in the dentate gyrus. Young adult animals either experienced free access to food (control condition), or every-other-day feeding regimen (DR condition) for 3months.

Thinking after Drinking: Impaired Hippocampal-Dependent Cognition in Human Alcoholics and Animal Models of Alcohol Dependence.

Alcohol use disorder currently affects approximately 18 million Americans, with at least half of these individuals having significant cognitive impairments subsequent to their chronic alcohol use. This is most widely apparent as frontal cortex-dependent cognitive dysfunction, where executive function and decision-making are severely compromised, as well as hippocampus-dependent cognitive dysfunction, where contextual and temporal reasoning are negatively impacted. This review discusses the relevant clinical literature to support the theory that cognitive recovery in tasks dependent on the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus is temporally different across extended periods of abstinence from alcohol.

Alcohol dependence-induced regulation of the proliferation and survival of adult brain progenitors is associated with altered BDNF-TrkB signaling.

Effects of withdrawal from ethanol drinking in chronic intermittent ethanol vapor (CIE)-exposed dependent rats and air-exposed nondependent rats on proliferation and survival of progenitor cells in the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were investigated. Rats were injected with 5'-Bromo 2-deoxyuridine 72 h post-CIE to measure proliferation (2 h-old cells) and survival (29-day-old cells) of progenitors born during a time-point previously reported to elicit a proliferative burst in the hippocampus. Hippocampal and mPFC brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and tropomyosin-related kinase B receptor (TrkB) expression were measured 3 h or 21d post-CIE to evaluate neurotrophic signaling during a time point preceding the proliferative burst and survival of newly born progenitors.

Neuron-Targeted Caveolin-1 Improves Molecular Signaling, Plasticity, and Behavior Dependent on the Hippocampus in Adult and Aged Mice.

Background: Studies in vitro demonstrate that neuronal membrane/lipid rafts (MLRs) establish cell polarity by clustering progrowth receptors and tethering cytoskeletal machinery necessary for neuronal sprouting. However, the effect of MLR and MLR-associated proteins on neuronal aging is unknown.

Methods: Here, we assessed the impact of neuron-targeted overexpression of an MLR scaffold protein, caveolin-1 (Cav-1) (via a synapsin promoter, SynCav1), in the hippocampus in vivo in adult (6-month-old) and aged (20-month-old) mice on biochemical, morphologic, and behavioral changes.

Evaluating Exercise as a Therapeutic Intervention for Methamphetamine Addiction-Like Behavior.

The need for effective treatments for addiction and dependence to the illicit stimulant methamphetamine in primary care settings is increasing, yet no effective medications have been FDA approved to reduce dependence [1]. This is partially attributed to the complex and dynamic neurobiology underlying the various stages of addiction [2]. Therapeutic strategies to treat methamphetamine addiction, particularly the relapse stage of addiction, could revolutionize methamphetamine addiction treatment.

Dendritic remodeling of hippocampal neurons is associated with altered NMDA receptor expression in alcohol dependent rats.

Prolonged alcohol exposure has been previously shown to impair the structure and function of the hippocampus, although the underlying structural and biochemical alterations contributing to these deleterious effects are unclear. Also unclear is whether these changes persist into prolonged periods of abstinence. Previous work from our lab utilizing a clinically relevant rodent model of alcohol consumption demonstrated that alcohol dependence (induced by chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure or CIE) decreases proliferation and survival of neural stem cells in the hippocampal subgranular zone and hippocampal neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus, implicating this region of the cortex as particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of prolonged ethanol exposure.

Role of NG2 expressing cells in addiction: a new approach for an old problem.

Neuron-glial antigen 2 (NG2) is a proteoglycan expressed predominantly in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). NG2-expressing OPCs (NG2-OPCs) are self-renewing cells that are widely distributed in the gray and white matter areas of the central nervous system. NG2-OPCs can mature into premyelinating oligodendrocytes and myelinating oligodendroglia which serve as the primary source of myelin in the brain.

Impact of combined prenatal ethanol and prenatal stress exposures on markers of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in rat dentate gyrus.

Prenatal ethanol exposure and prenatal stress can each cause long-lasting deficits in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and disrupt learning and memory processes. However, the mechanisms underlying these perturbations following a learning event are still poorly understood. We examined the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure and prenatal stress exposure, either alone or in combination, on the cytosolic expression of activity-regulated cytoskeletal (ARC) protein and the synaptosomal expression of AMPA-glutamate receptor subunits (GluA1 and GluA2) in dentate gyrus of female adult offspring under baseline conditions and after 2-trial trace conditioning (TTTC).

Impact of combined prenatal ethanol and prenatal stress exposure on anxiety and hippocampal-sensitive learning in adult offspring.

Background: Prenatal ethanol (EtOH) and prenatal stress have both been independently shown to induce learning deficits and anxiety behavior in adult offspring. However, the interactive effects of these 2 developmental teratogens on behavioral outcomes have not been systematically evaluated.

Methods: We combined an established moderate prenatal EtOH consumption paradigm where Long-Evans rat dams voluntarily consume either a 0 or 5% EtOH solution in 0.

Effects of a novel cognition-enhancing agent on fetal ethanol-induced learning deficits.

Background: Drinking during pregnancy has been associated with learning disabilities in affected offspring. At present, there are no clinically effective pharmacotherapeutic interventions for these learning deficits. Here, we examined the effects of ABT-239, a histamine H₃ receptor antagonist, on fetal ethanol-induced fear conditioning and spatial memory deficits.

Effects of moderate drinking during pregnancy on placental gene expression.

Many children adversely affected by maternal drinking during pregnancy cannot be identified early in life using current diagnostic criteria for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). We conducted a preliminary investigation to determine whether ethanol-induced alterations in placental gene expression may have some utility as a diagnostic indicator of maternal drinking during pregnancy and as a prognostic indicator of risk for adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in affected offspring. Pregnant Long-Evans rats voluntarily consumed either a 0 or 5% ethanol solution 4 h each day throughout gestation.