Stress Changes the Spatial Arrangement of Neurons and Glial Cells of Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Sertraline and Curcumin Prevent It

Abstract

ObjectiveThe present study explored the three-dimensional spatial arrangements of the neurons and glial cells within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rats.MethodsIt evaluated the arrangement for differences after stress with or without treatment with curcumin and sertraline using second-order stereology. Orientator method was applied to obtain isotropic uniform random sections of mPFC. The pair correlation g(r) and cross-correlation functions were estimated by counting dipole probes superimposed on histological sections of mPFC.ResultsThe mean total volume of neurons and glial cells was 0.80 (0.05) and 0.40 (0.07), respectively in the control group. The corresponding values decreased by 50% in the stressed group. The curve of g(r) for the neurons and glial cells showed a wider gap between the stressed rats' mPFC. Theses indicate a negative correlation (repulsion) between the neurons and glial cells in the stressed rats. Evaluation of the cross-correlation function of the neurons and glial cells also showed a negative correlation in the stressed group. The estimated values of the global degree of order in the spatial point pattern for neurons and glial cells were 0.62 and 0.20 in control and stressed animals, respectively. Curcumin and sertraline protected the spatial arrangements of the cells after stress induction in rats. In addition, the volume of the neurons and glial cells remained unchanged after stress.ConclusionDissociation of the neurons and glial cells can is seen at some places in the stressed rats' cortex. However, the spatial arrangement of the cells was remained unchanged in curcumin+stress and sertraline+stress rats.

Evaluation of the spatial arrangement of Purkinje cells in ataxic rat’s cerebellum after Sertoli cells transplantation

“…Our previous study revealed a difference in the neurons and glial cells spatial patterns in medial prefrontal cortex after chronic stress. Interesting data on structural changes that cannot be detected only by qualitative analysis can be obtained by evaluation of the spatial arrangement [18].…”

“…2). The covariance of a component (X) was estimated by the following equation [18]: C(r) X = SDP (X, r)/SDP (ref, r), where DP(X, r) and DP (ref, r) are the dipole length which hit the favoured structure and the nervous tissue. Pair correlation function is the normalised covariance function obtained by dividing covariance by the reference value (squared volume fraction) [18]: g(r) = C(r)/Vv2.…”

“…This method has been used to analyse the spatial pattern in different tissues by evaluation of mathematical function [17,18].…”

Curcumin's effects on the reproductive and nervous systems

“…The peripheral nerve injuries (sciatic nerve) were induced in rat models and co-treatment of curcumin in these conditions assessed (Noorafshan et al, 2011[ 13 ][ 14 ]). Since emotional stress are the indispensable parts of life, the next evaluations were arranged to show whether curcumin could improve behavioural and structural changes of the brain after induction of stress and depression models (Noorafshan et al, 2013[ 6 ], 2014[ 4 ], 2015[ 7 ][ 5 ]). The preservative agents and artificial dyes are used commonly in food and drug industries, and their adverse impacts on the mammalian bodies have been approved.…”

Place Second-Order Stereological Tool in the Toolbox of the Quantitative Research

“…Estimation of covariance "C(r)" and pair-correlation functions "g(r)" is one of these techniques to explore the three-dimensional arrangements of cell-cell or organelle-organelle. This method has been applied in estimation of the spatial allocation of a variety of histological particles including histological components of the benign and malignant prostatic tissues, microstructures of the diabetic heart, the A-cell and B-cells of dorsal root ganglion, the neuron-glia of the frontal cortex of the stressed rats, and the sub cellular localization of the organelles in the acinar cells of salivary gland [3][4][5][6][7]. Here, the C(r) and g(r) have illustrated spatial arrangement of the particles in the histological tissue samples.…”