Astrocytic Reactivity and Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability of Wistar Rats submitted to Neonatal Anoxia

• Grant number: 24/00357-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Honda Takada
• Grantee: Gabrielle Aguiar Mota
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/04612-8 - Effects of Neonatal Encephalopathy in Perinatal Animal Model via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), BE.EP.IC

Abstract

Hypoxia is defined as a decrease in tissue O2 concentration and ischemia as a decrease in blood flow to the tissue which, in turn, prevents the adequate distribution of O2, glucose and other nutrients. Hypoxia is one of the most potent stimulators of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, mainly resulting from oxygen deprivation at birth, whose clinical term is perinatal asphyxia, is an important public health problem, as it causes permanent sequelae. It is well understood that inflammation, such as that caused by hypoxia, is a biological response to tissue injury, and is characterized by the activation of astrocytes and the permeabilization of the Blood-Brain Barrier. The present study aims to analyze the permeabilization of the blood-brain barrier, the astrocytic response and angiogenesis triggered by O2 deprivation in Wistar rats subjected to neonatal anoxia. Neonatal rats, with 1 to 2 days of postnatal life (PN1/PN2), will be subjected to neonatal anoxia using the model described by Takada and collaborators (2011) and male neonates will have their brains dissected with PN7 and sent to the study of immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and spectrophotometry to analyze the permeabilization of the blood-brain barrier, astrocytic response and hippocampal angiogenesis. All data obtained in this study will result in relevant scientific contributions to understanding the real effects of anoxia on human brain development.