Beneficial effects of antioxidant-enriched diet for tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in ventral mesencephalic tissue in oculo grafts.

Abstract

Supplementation of antioxidants to the diet has been proved to be beneficial in aging and after brain injury. Furthermore, it has been postulated that the locus coeruleus promotes survival of dopamine neurons. Thus, this study was performed to elucidate the effects of a blueberry-enriched diet on fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue in the presence or absence of locus coeruleus utilizing the in oculo grafting method. Sprague-Dawley rats were given control diet or diet supplemented with 2% blueberries, and solid tissue pieces of fetal locus coeruleus and ventral mesencephalon were implanted as single and co-grafts. The results revealed that the presence of locus coeruleus tissue or the addition of blueberries enhanced the survival of ventral mesencephalic tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons, whereas no additive effects were observed for the two treatments. The density of TH-positive nerve fibers in ventral mesencephalic tissue was significantly elevated when it was attached to the locus coeruleus or by blueberry treatment, whereas the innervation of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase-positive nerve fibers was not altered. The presence of locus coeruleus tissue or bluberry supplementation reduced the number of Iba-1-positive microglia in the ventral mesencephalic portion of single and co-grafts, respectively, whereas almost no OX6 immunoreactivity was found. Furthermore, neither the attachment of ventral mesencephalic tissue nor the addition of blueberries improved the survival of TH-positive neurons in the locus coerulean grafts. To conclude, locus coeruleus and blueberries are beneficial for the survival of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue, findings that could be useful when grafting tissue in Parkinson's disease.

• Authors: Elisabet Berglöf, Brent J Small, Paula C Bickford, Ingrid Strömberg
• Journal: The Journal of comparative neurology (J Comp Neurol) Vol. 515 Issue 1 Pg. 72-82 (Jul 01 2009) ISSN: 1096-9861 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19399894 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
• Copyright: Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Chemical References

• Antioxidants
• Plant Extracts
• Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
• Dopamine

Topics

• Animals
• Antioxidants (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Axons (drug effects, metabolism, ultrastructure)
• Blueberry Plants (chemistry)
• Brain Tissue Transplantation (methods)
• Cell Communication (drug effects, physiology)
• Cell Differentiation (drug effects, physiology)
• Dopamine (biosynthesis)
• Female
• Food, Formulated
• Graft Survival (drug effects, physiology)
• Locus Coeruleus (drug effects, metabolism, transplantation)
• Mesencephalon (drug effects, metabolism, transplantation)
• Neurons (cytology, drug effects, metabolism)
• Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures (methods)
• Plant Extracts (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Stem Cell Transplantation (methods)
• Substantia Nigra (drug effects, metabolism, transplantation)
• Treatment Outcome
• Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase (metabolism)