Lack of experience-mediated differences in the immunohistochemical expression of blood–brain barrier markers (EBA and GluT-1) during the postnatal development of the rat visual cortex

Methotrexate reduces hippocampal blood vessel density and activates microglia in rats but does not elevate central cytokine release

“…Brain vascularization was studied by applying an endothelial barrier antigen (EBA) to hippocampal sections to visualize and quantify blood vessels in this brain structure [2,21]. Since a reduced brain vascularization may relate to a lowered glucose metabolism a tracer for regional glucose metabolism, [ 18 [8,39] was used for PET.…”

Effect of intracortical vascular endothelial growth factor infusion and blockade during the critical period in the rat visual cortex

“…We have previously reported that the main quantitative experience-induced vascular changes occur at the beginning of the critical period, where some authors have dated the peak of the neuronal critical period (Argandoñ a and Lafuente, 1996Lafuente, , 2000Berardi et al, 2000;Argandoñ a and Lafuente, 2002;Argandoñ a et al, 2005). Our previous results suggest that the increase of experience induces an increase in vascular density mediated by a peak in the secretion of VEGF.…”

“…Nevertheless, most of this research has been performed in adults at an age at which, under normal conditions, physiological VEGF levels are quite low. In addition, our previous research has shown that at the beginning of the critical period there is a significant percentage of cortical vessels with a BBB that does not seem to be fully mature, as 27% of brain capillaries lack EBA positivity (Argandoñ a et al, 2005). Our results show that, it has already been mentioned above the paradoxal effect of VEGF infusion contributing to a decrease in protein extravasation compared to vehicle or aVEGF infused animals, in addition to this finding, numerous These results are in accordance with previous findings reporting that the blockade of VEGFR-2 after a TBI leads to increased lesion area and increased cellular death (Skold et al, 2006).…”

“…This peak occurs at the 4th postnatal week, shortly after the end of the minipump placement (Bengoetxea et al, 2008). The implantation-produced lesion induces a significantly lower increase of vascular density, which is one of the changes related to the postnatal maturation of the visual cortex (Argandoñ a and Lafuente, 1996Lafuente, , 2000Lafuente, , 2002Argandoñ a et al, 2005;Bengoetxea et al, 2008). Several authors have reported that brain injuries in developing animals generate a delay in plasticity without gross morphological damage (Prins et al, 1996;Fineman et al, 2000;Adelson et al, 2001;Argandoñ a et al, 2006;Gurkoff et al, 2006).…”

“…Previously, we have studied the effects of visual experience on the cortex vasculature, reporting that during the critical period the vascular density and the maturation of the vascular pattern correspond to the level of activity (Argandoñ a and Lafuente, 1996Lafuente, , 2000Lafuente, , 2002Argandoñ a et al, 2005).…”