Temporal changes in neuroinflammation and brain glucose metabolism in a rat model of viral vector-induced α-synucleinopathy.

Temporal changes in neuroinflammation and brain glucose metabolism in a rat model of viral vector-induced α-synucleinopathy. Exp Neurol. 2019 May 25;:112964 Authors: Crabbé M, Van der Perren A, Kounelis S, Lavreys T, Bormans G, Baekelandt V, Casteels C, Van Laere K Abstract Rat models based on viral vector-mediated overexpression of α-synuclein are regarded as highly valuable models that closely mimic cardinal features of human Parkinson's disease (PD) such as L-DOPA-dependent motor impairment, dopaminergic neurodegeneration and α-synuclein inclusions. To date, the downstream effects of dopaminergic cell loss on brain glucose metabolism, including the neuroinflammation component, have not been phenotyped in detail for this model. Cerebral glucose metabolism was monitored throughout different stages of the disease using in vivo 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and was combined with in vitro [18F]DPA-714 autoradiography to assess concomitant inflammation. Rats were unilaterally injected with recombinant adeno-associated viral vector serotype 2/7 (rAAV2/7) encoding either A53T α-synuclein or eGFP. Brain [18F]FDG microPET was performed at baseline, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 weeks post-surgery, in combination with behavioral tests. As a second experiment, [18F]DPA-714 autoradiography was executed across the same timeline. Voxel-based analysis of relative [18F]FDG uptake showed a dynamic patt...
Source: Experimental Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Exp Neurol Source Type: research