Abstract
Aluminum (Al) is a neurotoxin that gradually accumulates in the brain in human life, resulting in oxidative brain injury related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other diseases. In this study, the learning and memory of rats exposed to different aluminum concentrations (0.0 g/L, 2.0 g/L, 4.0 g/L, and 8.0 g/L) were studied, and the learning and memory of rats were observed by shuttle box experiment. With hematoxylin and eosin staining, Western blot, immunofluorescence, and RT-PCR, the morphology of nerve cells in the hippocampus of rat brain were observed, and the levels of activator protein-1 (AP-1) gene and protein, nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin-3 (NT3), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and protein level, etc. The experimental results showed that subchronic aluminum exposure damaged learning and memory in rats. The cognitive function damage in rats was more evident after increasing the aluminum intake dose. The more aluminum intake, the more pronounced the histological changes in the hippocampus will be. The expression level and protein content of neurotrophic factors in the hippocampus of rats showed a negative correlation with aluminum intake. In this experiment, we explored the mechanism of aluminum exposure in learning and memory disorders, and provided some data reference for further elucidation of the damage mechanism of aluminum on the nervous system and subsequent preventive measures.
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Data Availability
The analyzed data sets generated during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81673226); by the Initiated Research Foundation for the Doctoral Program of Science and Technology Department of Liaoning Province, China (201601226); by the Natural Science Foundation of Education Department of Liaoning Province, China (L2015544, LJKZ1146); by the Natural Science Foundation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Education Department of Liaoning Province, China (201710164000038); by the Natural Science Foundation of Science and Technology Department of Shenyang City, China (17–231-1–44); by the Natural Science Foundation of Shenyang Medical College, China (20153043); by the Natural Science Foundation for Graduate Students of Shenyang Medical College, China (Y20180512); and by the Natural Science Foundation for Undergraduate Students of Shenyang Medical College, China (20179028).
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WL and JL designed the study, wrote the manuscript, and analyzed the data. JG reviewed the references. XD and LZ reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors had read the manuscript and agree to the publication of this study.
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Liu, W., Liu, J., Gao, J. et al. Effects of Subchronic Aluminum Exposure on Learning, Memory, and Neurotrophic Factors in Rats. Neurotox Res 40, 2046–2060 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-022-00599-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-022-00599-z