Mercedes Delgado

Background: Epilepsy is a central disorder associated with neuronal damage and brain hypometabolism. It has been reported that antidepressant drugs show anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects in different animal models of seizures and epilepsy. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the eventual short-term brain impairment induced by a single low convulsant dose of the potassium channel blocker 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) and the eventual neuroprotective effects exerted by fluoxetine, a prototypical selective serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Method: In vivo 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and several histological assessments were carried out in adult male rats after i.p. administration of 3 mg/kg 4-AP for evaluating eventual brain metabolism impairment and signs of hippocampal damage. We also evaluated the effects of a short-term fluoxetine treatment (10 mg/kg, i.p. for 7 days) in this seizure model. Results: [¹⁸F]FDG PET analysis revealed no changes in the regional brain metabolism on day 3 after 4-AP injection. The histological assessments revealed signs of damage in the hippocampus, a brain area usually affected by seizures. Thus, reactive gliosis and a significant increase in the expression of caspase-9 were found in the aforementioned brain area. By contrast, we observed no signs of neurodegeneration or neuronal death. Regarding the effects of fluoxetine, this SSRI showed beneficial neurologic effects, since it significantly increased the seizure latency time and reduced the abovementioned 4-AP-induced hippocampal damage markers. Conclusion: Overall, our results point to SSRIs and eventually endogenous 5-HT as neuroprotective agents against convulsant-induced hippocampal damage.

Several cannabinoids afforded neuroprotection in experimental models of Huntington’s disease (HD). We investigated whether a 1:1 combination of botanical extracts enriched in either ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆⁹-THC) or cannabidiol (CBD), which are the main constituents of the cannabis-based medicine Sativex^®, is beneficial in R6/2 mice (a transgenic model of HD), as it was previously shown to have positive effects in neurotoxin-based models of HD. We recorded the progression of neurological deficits and the extent of striatal deterioration, using behavioral, in vivo imaging, and biochemical methods in R6/2 mice and their corresponding wild-type mice. The mice were daily treated, starting at 4 weeks after birth, with a Sativex-like combination of phytocannabinoids (equivalent to 3 mg/kg weight of pure CBD + ∆⁹-THC) or vehicle. R6/2 mice exhibited the characteristic deterioration in rotarod performance that initiated at 6 weeks and progressed up to 10 weeks, and elevated clasping behavior reflecting dystonia. Treatment with the Sativex-like combination of phytocannabinoids did not recover rotarod performance, but markedly attenuated clasping behavior. The in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) analysis of R6/2 animals at 10 weeks revealed a reduced metabolic activity in the basal ganglia, which was partially attenuated by treatment with the Sativex-like combination of phytocannabinoids. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H⁺-MRS) analysis of the ex vivo striatum of R6/2 mice at 12 weeks revealed changes in various prognostic markers reflecting events typically found in HD patients and animal models, such as energy failure, mitochondrial dysfunction, and excitotoxicity. Some of these changes (taurine/creatine, taurine/N-acetylaspartate, and N-acetylaspartate/choline ratios) were completely reversed by treatment with the Sativex-like combination of phytocannabinoids. A Sativex-like combination of phytocannabinoids administered to R6/2 mice at the onset of motor symptoms produced certain benefits on the progression of striatal deterioration in these mice, which supports the interest of this cannabinoid-based medicine for the treatment of disease progression in HD patients.

Previous findings indicate that reducing brain insulin‐like growth factor I receptor (IGF‐IR) activity promotes ample neuroprotection. We now examined a possible action of IGF‐IR on brain glucose transport to explain its wide protective activity, as energy availability is crucial for healthy tissue function. Using ¹⁸FGlucose PET we found that shRNA interference of IGF‐IR in mouse somatosensory cortex significantly increased glucose uptake upon sensory stimulation. In vivo microscopy using astrocyte specific staining showed that after IGF‐IR shRNA injection in somatosensory cortex, astrocytes displayed greater increases in glucose uptake as compared to astrocytes in the scramble‐injected side. Further, mice with the IGF‐IR knock down in astrocytes showed increased glucose uptake in somatosensory cortex upon sensory stimulation. Analysis of underlying mechanisms indicated that IGF‐IR interacts with glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), the main facilitative glucose transporter in astrocytes, through a mechanism involving interactions with the scaffolding protein GIPC and the multicargo transporter LRP1 to retain GLUT1 inside the cell. These findings identify IGF‐IR as a key modulator of brain glucose metabolism through its inhibitory action on astrocytic GLUT1 activity. GLIA 2016;64:1962–1971

Purpose Epileptogenesis, i.e., development of epilepsy, involves a number of processes that alter the brain function in the way that triggers spontaneous seizures. Kindling is one of the most used animal models of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and epileptogenesis, although chemical kindling suffers from high inter-assay success unpredictability. This study was aimed to analyze the eventual regional brain metabolic changes during epileptogenesis in the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) kindling model in order to obtain a predictive kindling outcome parameter. Procedures In vivo longitudinal positron emission tomography (PET) scans with 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-glucose ([¹⁸F]FDG) along the PTZ kindling protocol (35 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.), 18 sessions) in adult male rats were performed in order to evaluate the regional brain metabolism. Results The half of the PTZ-injected rats reached the kindled state. In addition, a significant decrease of [¹⁸F]FDG uptake at the end of the protocol in most of the brain structures of kindled animals was found, reflecting the characteristic epilepsy-associated hypometabolism. However, PTZ-injected animals but not reaching the kindled state did not show this widespread brain hypometabolism. Retrospective analysis of the data revealed that hippocampal [¹⁸F]FDG uptake normalized to pons turned out to be a predictive index of the kindling outcome. Thus, a 19.06 % reduction (p = 0.008) of the above parameter was found in positively kindled rats compared to non-kindled ones just after the fifth PTZ session. Conclusion Non-invasive PET neuroimaging was a useful tool for discerning epileptogenesis progression in this animal model. Particularly, the [¹⁸F]FDG uptake of the hippocampus proved to be an early predictive parameter to differentiate resistant and non-resistant animals to the PTZ kindling.

Porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD) haploinsufficiency (acute intermittent porphyria, AIP) is characterized by neurovisceral attacks when hepatic heme synthesis is activated by endogenous or environmental factors including fasting. While the molecular mechanisms underlying the nutritional regulation of hepatic heme synthesis have been described, glucose homeostasis during fasting is poorly understood in porphyria. Our study aimed to analyse glucose homeostasis and hepatic carbohydrate metabolism during fasting in PBGD-deficient mice. To determine the contribution of hepatic PBGD deficiency to carbohydrate metabolism, AIP mice injected with a PBGD-liver gene delivery vector were included. After a 14 h fasting period, serum and liver metabolomics analyses showed that wild-type mice stimulated hepatic glycogen degradation to maintain glucose homeostasis while AIP livers activated gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis due to their inability to use stored glycogen. The serum of fasted AIP mice showed increased concentrations of insulin and reduced glucagon levels. Specific over-expression of the PBGD protein in the liver tended to normalize circulating insulin and glucagon levels, stimulated hepatic glycogen catabolism and blocked ketone body production. Reduced glucose uptake was observed in the primary somatosensorial brain cortex of fasted AIP mice, which could be reversed by PBGD-liver gene delivery. In conclusion, AIP mice showed a different response to fasting as measured by altered carbohydrate metabolism in the liver and modified glucose consumption in the brain cortex. Glucose homeostasis in fasted AIP mice was efficiently normalized after restoration of PBGD gene expression in the liver.

Reducing insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) levels or administration of IGF-I show beneficial effects in the brain. We now provide evidence to help resolve this paradox. The unliganded IGF-IR inhibits glucose uptake by astrocytes while its stimulation with IGF-I, in concert with insulin activation of the insulin receptor, produces the opposite effect. In vivo imaging showed that shRNA interference of brain IGF-IR increased glucose uptake by astrocytes while pharmacological blockade of IGF-IR reduced it. Brain ¹⁸ FGlucose-PET of IGF-IR shRNA injected mice confirmed an inhibitory role of unliganded IGF-IR on glucose uptake, whereas glucose-dependent recovery of neuronal activity in brain slices was blunted by pharmacological blockade of IGF-IR. Mechanistically, we found that the unliganded IGF-IR retains glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), the main glucose transporter in astrocytes, inside the cell while IGF-I, in cooperation with insulin, synergistically stimulates MAPK/PKD to promote association of IGF-IR with GLUT 1 via Rac1/GIPC1 and increases GLUT1 availability at the cell membrane. These findings identify IGF-I and its receptor as antagonistic modulators of brain glucose uptake.