Why considering sexual differences is necessary when studying encephalopathy of prematurity through rodent models

Autor: Bérénice Le Dieu-Lugon, Isabelle Leroux-Nicollet, Lou Legouez, Stéphane Marret, Philippe Leroux, Nicolas Dupré, Bruno J. Gonzalez, Carine Cleren
Přispěvatelé: Génomique et Médecine Personnalisée du Cancer et des Maladies Neuropsychiatriques (GPMCND), Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Team 4 'NeoVasc' - INSERM U1245, Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN)
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: European Journal of Neuroscience
European Journal of Neuroscience, Wiley, 2019, ⟨10.1111/ejn.14664⟩
ISSN: 1460-9568
0953-816X
DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14664⟩
Popis: Preterm birth is a high-risk factor for the development of gray and white matter abnormalities, referred to as "encephalopathy of prematurity," that may lead to life-long motor, cognitive, and behavioral impairments. The prevalence and clinical outcomes of encephalopathy of prematurity differ between sexes, and elucidating the underlying biological basis has become a high-priority challenge. Human studies are often limited to assessment of brain region volumes by MRI, which does not provide much information about the underlying mechanisms of lesions related to very preterm birth. However, models using KO mice or pharmacological manipulations in rodents allow relevant observations to help clarify the mechanisms of injury sustaining sex-differential vulnerability. This review focuses on data obtained from mice aged P1-P5 or rats aged P3 when submitted to cerebral damage such as hypoxia-ischemia, as their brain lesions share similarities with lesion patterns occurring in very preterm human brain, before 32 gestational weeks. We first report data on the mechanisms underlying the development of sexual brain dimorphism in rodent, focusing on the hippocampus. In the second part, we describe sex specificities of rodent models of encephalopathy of prematurity (RMEP), focusing on mechanisms underlying differences in hippocampal vulnerability. Finally, we discuss the relevance of these RMEP. Together, this review highlights the need to systematically search for potential effects of sex when studying the mechanisms underlying deficits in RMEP in order to design effective sex-specific medical interventions in human preterms.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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