Resources
Authors & Affiliations
Andrea Riberas Sánchez, Soleil Garcia Brito, Gemma Carreras Badosa, Laia Vila Solés, Laura Aldavert Vera, Pilar Segura Torres, Gemma Huguet Blanco, Elisabet Kádár Garcia
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent ageing-associated neurodegenerative disease. Deep brain stimulation is a novel therapeutic approach, but long-term effects remain unknown. We previously demonstrated that acute intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) in medial forebrain bundle (MFB) improves the acquisition but not 72-hour retention of a spatial learning task and regulates expression of specific miRNAs in a rat AD model. This study aims to analyse the effect of a chronic MFB-ICSS treatment on spatial memory and miRNA serum expression levels in a rat AD model by streptozotocin (STZ) injection. Rats were implanted with the electrode and injected 2 mg/kg STZ or vehicle into ventricles. MORRIS tests were performed at 40 days and 4.5 months post-STZ. Between the two tests, STZ rats received ICSS for 13 weeks (one session/week) or sham treatment. Serum levels of miRNAs were quantified by qRT-PCR at 40 days (S0) and 2 (S1) and 4.5 months (S2) post-STZ. Our results indicate that at 4.5 months STZ+ICSS rats showed better acquisition and retention of the Morris task than STZ-sham rats. At 40 days, miR-30c and miR-16 were significantly upregulated in STZ group and decreased from S0 to S1 in both STZ-sham and STZ-ICSS group. However, levels of miR-495 in the STZ-sham group followed a significant increase from S1 to S2 that is not observed in control and STZ+ICSS groups. This study reveals a protective effect of ICSS-MFB on spatial memory dysfunction after STZ and differential serum changes of the miRNAs, supporting their use as progression biomarkers.