Exogenous agmatine has neuroprotective effects against restraint-induced structural changes in the rat brain.
Exogenous agmatine has neuroprotective effects against restraint-induced structural changes in the rat brain.
复制标题
外源性胍丁胺对大鼠大脑中约束引起的结构变化具有神经保护作用。
DOI：
10.1111/j.1460-9568.2008.06104.x
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Ordway,Gregory
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zhu,Meng-Yang;Wang,Wei-Ping;Cai,Zheng-Wei;Regunathan,Soundar;Ordway,Gregory
Agmatine is an endogenous amine derived from decarboxylation of arginine catalysed by arginine decarboxylase. Agmatine is considered a novel neuromodulator and possesses neuroprotective properties in the central nervous system. The present study examined whether agmatine has neuroprotective effects against repeated restraint stress‐induced morphological changes in rat medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Sprague‐Dawley rats were subjected to 6 h of restraint stress daily for 21 days. Immunohistochemical staining with β‐tubulin III showed that repeated restraint stress caused marked morphological alterations in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Stress‐induced alterations were prevented by simultaneous treatment with agmatine (50 mg/kg/day, i.p.). Interestingly, endogenous agmatine levels, as measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography, in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus as well as in the striatum and hypothalamus of repeated restraint rats were significantly reduced as compared with the controls. Reduced endogenous agmatine levels in repeated restraint animals were accompanied by a significant increase of arginine decarboxylase protein levels in the same regions. Moreover, administration of exogenous agmatine to restrained rats abolished increases of arginine decarboxylase protein levels. Taken together, these results demonstrate that exogenously administered agmatine has neuroprotective effects against repeated restraint‐induced structural changes in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. These findings indicate that stress‐induced reductions in endogenous agmatine levels in the rat brain may play a permissive role in neuronal pathology induced by repeated restraint stress.
