Use of ceftriaxone in treating cognitive and neuronal deficits associated with dementia with lewy bodies
Journal
Frontiers in Neuroscience
Journal Volume
13
Journal Issue
MAY
Pages
507
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Abstract
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is caused by accumulation of Lewy bodies, destruction of mitochondria, and excess of glutamate in synapses, which eventually leads to excitotoxicity, neurodegeneration, and cognitive impairments. Ceftriaxone (CEF) reduces excitotoxicity by increasing glutamate transporter 1 expression and glutamate reuptake. We investigated whether CEF can prevent cognitive decline and neurological deficits and increase neurogenesis in DLB rats. Male Wistar rats infused with viral vector containing human alpha-synuclein (α-syn) gene, SNCA, in the lateral ventricle were used as a rat model of DLB. CEF (100 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was injected in these rats for 27 days. The active avoidance test and object recognition test was performed. Finally, the brains of all the rats were immunohistochemically stained to measure α-syn, neuronal density, and newborn cells in the hippocampus and substantia nigra. The results revealed that DLB rats had learning and object recognition impairments and exhibited cell loss in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system, and hippocampal CA1, and dentate gyrus (DG). Additionally, DLB rats had fewer newborn cells in the DG and substantia nigra pars reticulata and more α-syn immune-positive cells in the DG. Treatment with CEF improved cognitive function, reduced cell loss, and increased the number of newborn cells in the brain. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that CEF prevents loss of neurogenesis in the brain of DLB rats. CEF may therefore has clinical potential for treating DLB. ? 2019 Ho, Shen, Tai, Li, Chen, Liao, Chiu, Lee, Lin and Hung. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Subjects
Ceftriaxone; Cognitive dysfunction; Dementia with Lewy bodies; Neurodegeneration; Neurogenesis
SDGs
Other Subjects
alpha synuclein; ceftriaxone; animal cell; animal experiment; animal model; animal tissue; Article; cell density; cell loss; dentate gyrus; diffuse Lewy body disease; dopaminergic system; hippocampal CA1 region; learning disorder; male; nerve cell; nervous system development; neuroprotection; newborn; nigroneostriatal system; nonhuman; rat; recognition; substantia nigra pars reticulata
Publisher
Frontiers Media S.A.
Type
journal article