The effects of the 5-HT7 receptor on hippocampal long-term potentiation and apoptosis in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease.

The effects of the 5-HT7 receptor on hippocampal long-term potentiation and apoptosis in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease. Brain Res Bull. 2017 Oct 05;135:85-91 Authors: Hashemi-Firouzi N, Komaki A, Soleimani Asl S, Shahidi S Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder involving synaptic loss and impairments in learning and memory. Long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic function is a model of learning- and memory-related neural plasticity, of which serotonin (5-HT) is a key modulator in the hippocampus. As the 5-HT7 receptor subtype is implicated in hippocampal neuronal function, dendritic rearrangement, and neurogenesis, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of 5-HT7 receptor activation on hippocampal synaptic plasticity and apoptosis in a rat model of AD. AD was induced via intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of streptozotocin (STZ). Forty adult male Wistar rats were divided into naive control, sham-operated, AD+saline (1μL icv for 30days), and AD+AS19 (a selective 5-HT7 receptor agonist, 1μg/μL, icv for 30days) groups. Following the treatment period, rats were anesthetized and placed in a stereotaxic apparatus. LTP was induced by high-frequency stimulation of the perforant pathway. The population spike (PS) and field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSP) in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus were measured. Then, neuronal apoptosis was detected using the terminal d...
Source: Brain Research Bulletin - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research