Borba J M, Araújo M S, Picanço-Diniz C W, Manhães-de-Castro R, Guedes R C
Laboratório de Fisiologia da Nutrição Naide Teodósio, Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Brain Res Bull. 2000 Sep 15;53(2):193-201. doi: 10.1016/s0361-9230(00)00334-8.
We investigated the histochemical positivity to NADPH-diaphorase, which reveals nitric oxide synthase activity, in area 17 of rats malnourished early in life, both in the post-weaning period (group M1), and in adulthood after nutritional recovering (group M2). Control pups (C1 and C2 groups) received ad libitum after weaning the same diets as their mothers. Rats of group M2 were nutritionally recovered by receiving the control diet from post-natal day 42 until adulthood. Aldehyde-fixed sections (200-microm thick) through area 17 were processed for NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry following the malic enzyme indirect method. The features of NADPH-diaphorase-containing neurons of area 17 of malnourished young (M1) and adult (M2) rats were analyzed quantitatively in comparison to the matched groups C1 and C2. Permanent changes, represented by increase in the density and dendritic field areas of NADPH-diaphorase-positive cells, and transitory ones, represented by decreased values of soma areas, were observed in area 17 of the M1 and M2 cases. However, some other features, such as dendritic branch angle and number of dendrites per cell in the gray matter, remained unchanged after malnutrition. Thus, the findings indicate a possible relationship between early malnutrition and alterations in nitric oxide synthase-containing cells in the visual cortex. Physiological implications of these data may be related to synaptic plasticity and refinement of developmental brain circuits.
我们研究了早年营养不良大鼠在断奶后时期（M1组）以及营养恢复后的成年期（M2组）视皮层17区中对NADPH-黄递酶的组织化学阳性反应，该反应可揭示一氧化氮合酶活性。对照幼崽（C1和C2组）在断奶后随意进食与其母亲相同的饮食。M2组大鼠从出生后第42天到成年期通过接受对照饮食实现营养恢复。采用苹果酸酶间接法对通过视皮层17区的醛固定切片（200微米厚）进行NADPH-黄递酶组织化学处理。与匹配的C1和C2组相比，定量分析了营养不良幼鼠（M1）和成年鼠（M2）视皮层17区含NADPH-黄递酶神经元的特征。在M1和M2组的视皮层17区观察到了永久性变化，表现为NADPH-黄递酶阳性细胞密度和树突野面积增加，以及短暂性变化，表现为胞体面积减小。然而，其他一些特征，如灰质中树突分支角度和每个细胞的树突数量，在营养不良后保持不变。因此，这些发现表明早期营养不良与视皮层中含一氧化氮合酶细胞的改变之间可能存在关联。这些数据的生理学意义可能与突触可塑性和发育中的脑回路精细化有关。
