Quinolinic acid lesions of the pedunculopontine nucleus impair sleep architecture, but not locomotion, exploration, emotionality or working memory in the rat.

Autor: Hernández-Chan NG; Departamento de Neurociencias, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Av. Itzáes # 490 x 59, C.P. 97000 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico., Góngora-Alfaro JL, Álvarez-Cervera FJ, Solís-Rodríguez FA, Heredia-López FJ, Arankowsky-Sandoval G
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Behavioural brain research [Behav Brain Res] 2011 Dec 01; Vol. 225 (2), pp. 482-90. Date of Electronic Publication: 2011 Aug 12.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.08.007
Abstrakt: Anatomical and functional studies have shown that the NADPH-diaphorase-positive cholinergic neurons of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) send projections to several areas in the brain. The purpose of this work was to investigate whether bilateral lesions with quinolinic acid, a neurotoxin with greater selectivity for NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons, aimed at the compact portion of the PPN would affect the performance of adaptive behaviors, such as sleep, locomotion, and spontaneous alternation. Lesioned animals were divided in a low lesion group (LL, <50% neuron loss) and a high lesion group (HL, ≥50% neuron loss). The LL animals did not show any significant changes in sleep patterns, as compared to controls. In contrast, the HL group showed a significant increase in the number of REM sleep periods, and a reduction of REM sleep average duration, but did not differ in the total time spent in REM sleep. HL animals also showed an increase in the number of SWS periods, though wakefulness parameters did not show significant alterations. The duration and number of both REM and SWS sleep episodes were significantly correlated with the number of NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons in the PPN. The short-term habituation pattern of locomotion, the vertical exploratory activity, as well as the thigmotaxis (an index of emotionality), displayed by LL and HL rats in a novel environment were similar to those of control animals. Likewise, there were no significant differences in spontaneous alternation among the groups. Our results indicate that quinolinic acid lesions of NADPH-diaphorase-positive cholinergic neurons localized in the posterior region of the PPN disrupt normal sleep structure, while motor activity and spontaneous alternation remain unaffected.
(Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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