Rivera-Mancía Susana, Montes Sergio, Méndez-Armenta Maricela, Muriel Pablo, Ríos Camilo
Departamento de Neuroquímica, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Manuel Velasco Suárez, México D.F, México.
Metab Brain Dis. 2009 Jun;24(2):243-55. doi: 10.1007/s11011-009-9138-5. Epub 2009 Apr 8.
Liver cirrhosis is a common cause of death around the world. One of its more severe complications is hepatic encephalopathy. As a consequence of liver impairment, manganese (Mn) and other substances accumulate in the brain. Astrocytic morphological changes have been found in postmortem brains of cirrhotic patients. In this study we used a model of cirrhosis induced by bile duct ligation and Mn accumulation by exposing rats to MnCl(2) (1 mg Mn/ml) in their drinking water. Four experimental groups were used: Sham, Sham plus Mn treatment, BDL (bile duct ligated) and BDL plus Mn treatment. Brain Mn was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in cortex, striatum and globus pallidus. Altered and normal astrocytes were counted in the same brain areas. Brain Mn was highest in rats of the BDLMn group. An increased number of altered astrocytes was found only in BDL groups, Mn did not modify this effect. No changes were found in the total number of astrocytes. According to our results, biliary obstruction induced an increase in the number of altered astrocytes since early stages of cirrhosis and Mn did not affect this effect.
肝硬化是全球常见的死亡原因之一。其较为严重的并发症之一是肝性脑病。由于肝脏功能受损，锰（Mn）和其他物质在大脑中蓄积。在肝硬化患者的尸检大脑中已发现星形胶质细胞形态发生改变。在本研究中，我们使用胆管结扎诱导肝硬化的模型，并通过让大鼠饮用含MnCl₂（1毫克锰/毫升）的水来使锰蓄积。实验分为四组：假手术组、假手术加锰处理组、胆管结扎（BDL）组和胆管结扎加锰处理组。通过原子吸收分光光度法测量大脑皮质、纹状体和苍白球中的脑锰含量。在相同脑区对形态改变和正常的星形胶质细胞进行计数。BDLMn组大鼠的脑锰含量最高。仅在BDL组中发现形态改变的星形胶质细胞数量增加，锰并未改变这一效应。星形胶质细胞总数未发现变化。根据我们的研究结果，胆道梗阻在肝硬化早期就导致形态改变的星形胶质细胞数量增加，而锰并未影响这一效应。
