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Experimental Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Decreases Astrocyte Density and Changes Astrocytic Polarity in the CA1 Hippocampus of Male Rats

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Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition resulting from exposure to a traumatic event. It is characterized by several debilitating symptoms including re-experiencing the past trauma, avoidance behavior, increased fear, and hyperarousal. Key roles in the neuropathology of PTSD and its symptomatology have been attributed to the hippocampus and amygdala. These regions are involved in explicit memory processes and context encoding during fear conditioning. The aim of our study was to investigate whether PTSD is capable of altering the morphology, density and expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in astrocytes from the CA1 region of the hippocampus and the medial amygdala and correlate the data obtained with the orientation index of the polarity of astrocytes. Thirty male rats were divided in two groups: control (n = 15) and PTSD (n = 15). The inescapable shock protocol, in which the animals are exposed to a single episode of footshock, was used to induce PTSD. Our results show that, in the hippocampus, PTSD is capable of decreasing the density of GFAP+ astrocytes as well as altering astrocytic morphology, as shown by the reductions observed in the total number of primary processes, in the number of primary processes in the lateral quadrants, and the degree of branching in the lateral quadrants. The analysis of the orientation index indicates that PTSD alters the polarity of hippocampal astrocytes. No alterations were observed in the amygdala astrocytes. Therefore, this study demonstrates notable changes in hippocampal astrocytes, supporting the concept that these cells play an important role in PTSD symptomatology.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Brazilian funding agencies: Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS). Lisiani Saur was supported by a Doctorate scholarship from CAPES. Dr. Léder Leal Xavier is a CNPq investigator.

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  1. Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Departamento de Ciências Morfofisiológicas, Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga, 6681, Prédio 12C, Sala 104, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90619-900, Brazil

    Lisiani Saur, Pedro Porto Alegre Baptista, Pamela Brambilla Bagatini, Laura Tartari Neves, Raquel Mattos de Oliveira, Sabrina Pereira Vaz, Kelly Ferreira, Susane Alves Machado, Régis Gemerasca Mestriner & Léder Leal Xavier

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  1. Lisiani Saur
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Saur, L., Baptista, P.P.A., Bagatini, P.B. et al. Experimental Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Decreases Astrocyte Density and Changes Astrocytic Polarity in the CA1 Hippocampus of Male Rats. Neurochem Res 41, 892–904 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-015-1770-3

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