neuroscience-2018-posters-abstracts

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Volume 2

June 11-13, 2018 | London, UK

Neurology and Neuroscience

International Conference on

Cotinine normalizes the morphology and abundance of astrocyte after chronic restraint

Valentina Echeverria Moran

Universidad San Sebastian, Chile

strocytes maintain brain homeostasis and support neuronal

function. In recent years, it hasbeenshownadecrease in the

number of astrocytes that present immunoreactivity (IR) for the

fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the brain of rodent models of

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). GFAP is a familyof proteins

used as a marker of astrocytes and in less extent of immature

brain cells. Astroglia dysfunction seems to be involved in the

development of depression andmemory loss induced by stress.

Cotinine, a positive modulator of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine

receptor (nAChR), prevented memory impairment, depressive-

like behavior, and synaptic loss when co-administered during

restraint stress. Inhere, we studied theeffects of post-treatment

with intranasal cotinine on depressive behavior, memory aswell

as number and morphology of GFAP+ cells, in the hippocampus

and frontal cortex of chronically restrained mice. After two

weeks of treatment with cotinine or vehicle, mice were tested

for locomotor activity (OpenFieldTest), depressive-likebehavior

(Forced Swim test), and memory (Novel object recognition).

After euthanasia, GFAP IR cells and their morphology were

assessed using immunohistochemistry. This evidence revealed

that in addition to the depression and cognitive impairments,

restraint stress induced a significant decrease in the number

of GFAP+ cells and their arborization complexity. Cotinine

prevented cognitive impairment and depressive behavior and

restored GFAP+ cells morphology in both brain regions. This

data suggests that cotinine acts by a mechanism involving

the restoration of astrocyte function after stress in mice.