TY - JOUR
T1 - Corticosterone administration alters white matter tract structure and reduces gliosis in the sub-acute phase of experimental stroke
AU - Zalewska, Katarzyna
AU - Hood, Rebecca J.
AU - Pietrogrande, Giovanni
AU - Sanchez-Bezanilla, Sonia
AU - Ong, Lin Kooi
AU - Johnson, Sarah J.
AU - Young, Kaylene M.
AU - Nilsson, Michael
AU - Walker, Frederick R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by a Hunter Medical Research Institute: Pilot Grant; grant number G1501384 Institutional Review Board Statement: All experiments were approved by the University of Newcastle Animal Care and Ethics Committee (A-2013-340) and conducted in accordance with the New South Wales Animal Research Act (1985) and the Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes (NHMRC).
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Health and Medicine Pilot Grant and the University of Newcastle, Australia. We also express our gratitude to the HMRI CORE Histology Facility for assistance with the immunohistochemistry images.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/6/22
Y1 - 2021/6/22
N2 - White matter tract (WMT) degeneration has been reported to occur following a stroke, and it is associated with post-stroke functional disturbances. White matter pathology has been suggested to be an independent predictor of post-stroke recovery. However, the factors that influence WMT remodeling are poorly understood. Cortisol is a steroid hormone released in response to prolonged stress, and elevated levels of cortisol have been reported to interfere with brain recovery. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of corticosterone (CORT; the rodent equivalent of cortisol) on WMT structure post-stroke. Photothrombotic stroke (or sham surgery) was induced in 8-week-old male C57BL/6 mice. At 72 h, mice were exposed to standard drinking water ± CORT (100 µg/mL). After two weeks of CORT administration, mice were euthanised and brain tissue collected for histological and biochemical analysis of WMT (particularly the corpus cal-losum and corticospinal tract). CORT administration was associated with increased tissue loss within the ipsilateral hemisphere, and modest and inconsistent WMT reorganization. Further, a structural and molecular analysis of the WMT components suggested that CORT exerted effects over axons and glial cells. Our findings highlight that CORT at stress-like levels can moderately influence the reorganization and microstructure of WMT post-stroke.
AB - White matter tract (WMT) degeneration has been reported to occur following a stroke, and it is associated with post-stroke functional disturbances. White matter pathology has been suggested to be an independent predictor of post-stroke recovery. However, the factors that influence WMT remodeling are poorly understood. Cortisol is a steroid hormone released in response to prolonged stress, and elevated levels of cortisol have been reported to interfere with brain recovery. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of corticosterone (CORT; the rodent equivalent of cortisol) on WMT structure post-stroke. Photothrombotic stroke (or sham surgery) was induced in 8-week-old male C57BL/6 mice. At 72 h, mice were exposed to standard drinking water ± CORT (100 µg/mL). After two weeks of CORT administration, mice were euthanised and brain tissue collected for histological and biochemical analysis of WMT (particularly the corpus cal-losum and corticospinal tract). CORT administration was associated with increased tissue loss within the ipsilateral hemisphere, and modest and inconsistent WMT reorganization. Further, a structural and molecular analysis of the WMT components suggested that CORT exerted effects over axons and glial cells. Our findings highlight that CORT at stress-like levels can moderately influence the reorganization and microstructure of WMT post-stroke.
KW - Corticosterone
KW - Glia
KW - Myelin
KW - Oligodendrocyte
KW - Stress
KW - Stroke recovery
KW - White matter tracts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108184036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijms22136693
DO - 10.3390/ijms22136693
M3 - Article
C2 - 34206635
AN - SCOPUS:85108184036
SN - 1422-0067
VL - 22
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
IS - 13
M1 - 6693
ER -