Prenatal protein malnutrition alters the proportion but not numbers of parvalbumin-immunoreactive interneurons in the hippocampus of the adult Sprague-Dawley rat

• Published in: Nutritional neuroscience Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 165 - 178
• Main Authors: Lister, James P, Blatt, Gene J, Kemper, Thomas L, Tonkiss, John, DeBassio, William A, Galler, Janina R, Rosene, Douglas L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.07.2011
• Subjects: Animals; CA1 subfield; CA3 subfield; Dentate Gyrus - cytology; Dentate Gyrus - drug effects; Dentate Gyrus - pathology; Female; Hemispheric asymmetry; Inhibition; Interneurons - metabolism; Male; Neurons - cytology; Neurons - pathology; Parvalbumins - metabolism; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - metabolism; Protein-Energy Malnutrition - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Stereology; Undernutrition
• ISSN: 1028-415X; 1476-8305
• DOI: 10.1179/147683011X13009738172396

Prenatal protein malnutrition alters the structure and function of the adult rat hippocampal formation. The current study examines the effect of prenatal protein malnutrition on numbers of parvalbumin-immunoreactive (PV-IR) GABAergic interneurons, which are important for perisomatic inhibition of hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Brain sections from prenatally protein malnourished and normally nourished rats were stained for parvalbumin and PV-IR neurons were quantified using stereology in the dentate gyrus, CA3/2 and CA1 subfields, and the subiculum for both cerebral hemispheres. Results demonstrated that prenatal malnutrition did not affect the number of PV-IR interneurons in the hippocampus. Since prenatal protein malnutrition reduces total neuron numbers in the CA1 subfield (1), this results in an altered ratio of PV-IR interneurons to total neuronal numbers (from 1:22.9 in controls to 1:20.5 in malnourished rats). Additionally, there was no hemispheric asymmetry of either PV-IR neuron numbers or ratio of PV-IR:total neuron numbers.