Minocycline treatment reduces white matter damage after excitotoxic striatal injury

• Published in: Brain research Vol. 1329; pp. 182 - 193
• Main Authors: Guimarães, Joanilson S, Freire, Marco Aurelio M, Lima, Rafael R, Picanço-Diniz, Cristovam W, Pereira, Antonio, Gomes-Leal, Walace
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 06.05.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibodies, Monoclonal - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - drug effects; Brain - immunology; Corpus Striatum - drug effects; Corpus Striatum - pathology; Development. Senescence. Regeneration. Transplantation; Disease Models, Animal; Excitotoxicity; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Macrophage Activation - drug effects; Macrophage Activation - immunology; Male; Microglia - drug effects; Microglia - immunology; Microinjections; Minocycline - administration & dosage; Minocycline - pharmacology; Myelin; Myelin Basic Protein - metabolism; N-Methylaspartate; Neurodegeneration; Neurology; Oligodendrocyte; Oligodendroglia - drug effects; Oligodendroglia - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Striatum; Time Factors; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; White matter; Striatum; Oligodendrocyte; Neurodegeneration; Myelin; White matter; Excitotoxicity; Rat; Toxicity; Neuroglia; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Basal ganglion; Corpus striatum; Encephalon; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Treatment; Animal; Minocycline; Degeneration; Lesion
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.03.007

Abstract We investigated the protective effects of minocycline following white matter damage (WMD) in the rat striatum. Excitotoxic lesions were induced by N-Methyl- d -Aspartate (NMDA) microinjections and caused striatal damage, concomitant with microglial/macrophage activation. The excitotoxic lesion both damaged oligodendrocytes (Tau-1+ cells) and caused a decrease in tissue reactivity for myelin basic protein (MBP) after post-lesional day 3 (PLD). Treatment with the semi-synthetic tetracycline antibiotic minocycline, however, led to oligodendrocyte preservation and decreased myelin impairment. Taken together, these results suggest that white matter damage (WMD) is an important component of the physiopathology of acute striatal damage and that microglial/macrophage activation contributes to this pathological phenomenon.