Effects of minocycline treatment on microglial activation in rats submitted to sustained hypoxia

• Grant number: 17/13720-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Effective date (Start): September 15, 2017
• Effective date (End): December 14, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Benedito Honorio Machado
• Grantee: Ludmila Lima Silveira
• Supervisor: Paul Martin Pilowsky
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Sydney, Australia
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/11101-5 - The influence of inflamatory process on the activity of nucleus tractus solitarius neurons in juvenile rats submitted to sustained hypoxia, BP.DD

Abstract

Rats submitted to Sustained hypoxia (SH - 24 h) presented increase in the excitatory synaptic transmission in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (NTS) neurons. SH is also associated with inflammation in the central nervous system. It is know that inflammatory mediators may act as neuromodulators facilitating excitatory goal transmission and changing the excitability of the neurons. Therefore, the main objective of our project is to investigate if the inflammatory process triggered by sustained hypoxia would be related to changes in synaptic transmission in the NTS neurons. Our previous electrophysiological studies showed that the treatment with anti-inflammatory Minocycline attenuated the increase of the excitatory synaptic transmission in NTS neurons of SH rats. These previous findings indicated that the inflammatory process induced by SH, participates of the mechanisms related to the increase of excitatory synaptic transmission in NTS neurons. It is know that the main mechanism by which Minocycline reduces inflammation in the central nervous system is by inhibition of microglia cells. The microglia are the immune cells resident in the central nervous systems (CNS) and are the major contributors to CNS inflammation. Therefore, the aim of this BEPE project is to investigate the effects of short-term SH and Minocycline treatment on the activation of microglia cells in the NTS region. We hypothesized that short-term sustained hypoxia promotes an increase in the active microglia in the NTS region which would be related to an increase in the inflammatory process in this region and that minocycline treatment reduces the activation of these cells. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LIMA-SILVEIRA, LUDMILA; ACCORSI-MENDONCA, DANIELA; BONAGAMBA, LENI G. H.; ALMADO, CARLOS EDUARDO L.; DA SILVA, MELINA P.; NEDOBOY, POLINA E.; PILOWSKY, PAUL M.; MACHADO, BENEDITO H.. Enhancement of excitatory transmission in NTS neurons projecting to ventral medulla of rats exposed to sustained hypoxia is blunted by minocycline. JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON, v. 597, n. 11, p. 2903-2923, JUN 2019. (13/06077-5, 14/11101-5, 17/13720-2)