Anxiety caused by traumatic brain injury correlates to decreased prefrontal cortex vegf immunoreactivity and neuron density in immature rats

Abstract

AIm: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may cause neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorder which has negative effects on cognitive functions and behavior. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of TBI on anxiety and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) immunoreactivity on the prefrontal cortex of immature rats, which is one of the anxiety-related regions of the brain in 7-day-old immature rats subjected to contusion injury. mATeRIAL and meTHods: Rats were divided into three groups: Control (n=7), Sham (n=7) and TBI (n=7). Anxiety levels were assessed with open field activity and elevated plus maze in postnatal 27 days. Prefrontal cortex damage related to TBI was examined by cresyl violet staining and VEGF immunostaining. Prefrontal cortex neuronal density was calculated. Serum corticosterone levels were determined. ResuLTs:The anxiety level in the TBI group was significantly greater than the control and sham groups. The prefrontal cortex VEGF immunostaining score and neuron density were decreased in the TBI group compared to control and sham group. Serum corticosterone levels were significantly increased in the TBI group. CoNCLusIoN:These results indicate that TBI decreases VEGF immunoreactivity in prefrontal cortex neurons and increases the anxiety levels of immature rats.

Head Rotational Acceleration Characteristics Influence Behavioral and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Outcomes Following Concussion

“…The EPM behaviors reflected increasing activity and exploratory behavior for injuries with longer durations (D2). This is seemingly in contrast to the majority of TBI studies that report decreased activity in the EPM 1,4,5,30,51,56,57 compared to uninjured animals. In these studies, which most often employ the CCI or LFP models, decreased activity is commonly attributed to elevated anxiety.…”

Hippocampal and Cerebellar Changes in Acute Restraint Stress and the Impact of Pretreatment with Ceftriaxone

“…A wooden box (1 m × 1 m × 0.5 m) was divided by a marker pen into equally spaced squares. A mouse was positioned in the center of the open field and was examined in a quiet room illuminated by controlled light for 5 min [13]. The behavior of the mouse was evaluated for line crossing, center square entries, center square time, rearing, stretch attending postures, grooming, freezing, urination, and defecation.…”

Effect of undifferentiated versus hepatogenic partially differentiated mesenchymal stem cells on hepatic and cognitive functions in liver cirrhosis

“…I: Behavioral assessment: we performed cognitive tests twice; before induction of liver cirrhosis and just before scarification; using Y-maze (Arai et al, 2001[ 2 ]) and open field tasks (Baykara et al, 2012[ 5 ]) to evaluate spatial working memory, locomotion, and anxiety.…”