Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2014;37(3):466-74. doi: 10.1248/bpb.b13-00892. Epub 2013 Dec 19.
To study the effect of organic Se on spatial learning and memory deficits induced by Pb exposure at different developmental stages, and its relationship with alterations of synaptic structural plasticity, postnatal rat pups were randomly divided into five groups: Control; Pb (Weaned pups were exposed to Pb at postnatal day (PND) 21-42); Pb-Se (Weaned pups were exposed to Se at PND 43-63 after Pb exposure); maternal Pb (mPb) (Parents were exposed to Pb from 3 weeks before mating to the weaning of pups); mPb-Se (Parents were exposed to Pb and weaned pups were exposed to Se at PND 43-63). The spatial learning and memory of rat pups was measured by Morris water maze (MWM) on PND 63. We found that rat pups in Pb-Se group performed significantly better than those in Pb group (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the ability of spatial learning and memory between the groups of mPb and mPb-Se (p>0.05). We also found that, before MWM, the numbers of neurons and synapses significantly decreased in mPb group, but not in Pb group. After MWM, the number of synapses, the thickness of postsynaptic density (PSD), the length of synaptic active zone and the synaptic curvature increased significantly in Pb-Se and mPb-Se group; while the width of synaptic cleft decreased significantly (p<0.05), compared to Pb group and mPb group, respectively. However, the number of synapses in mPb-Se group was still significantly lower than that in the control group (p<0.05). Our data demonstrated that organic Se had protective effects on the impairments of spatial learning and memory as well as synaptic structural plasticity induced by Pb exposure in rats after weaning, but not by the maternal Pb exposure which reduced the numbers of neurons and synapses in the early neural development.
为了研究有机硒(Se)对不同发育期铅(Pb)暴露引起的空间学习和记忆缺陷的影响及其与突触结构可塑性变化的关系,将新生大鼠幼崽随机分为五组:对照组;Pb(新生后第 21-42 天暴露于 Pb);Pb-Se(Pb 暴露后第 43-63 天暴露于 Se);母体 Pb(mPb)(从交配前 3 周到幼崽断奶期间暴露于 Pb);mPb-Se(父母暴露于 Pb 并在第 43-63 天暴露于 Se)。在第 63 天,通过 Morris 水迷宫(MWM)测量大鼠幼崽的空间学习和记忆能力。结果发现,Pb-Se 组大鼠幼崽的表现明显优于 Pb 组(p<0.05)。然而,mPb 组和 mPb-Se 组之间的空间学习和记忆能力没有显著差异(p>0.05)。我们还发现,在 MWM 之前,mPb 组神经元和突触的数量明显减少,但 Pb 组没有。MWM 后,Pb-Se 组和 mPb-Se 组突触数量、突触后密度(PSD)厚度、突触活性区长度和突触曲率显著增加,而突触间隙宽度明显减小(p<0.05),与 Pb 组和 mPb 组相比,分别。然而,mPb-Se 组的突触数量仍明显低于对照组(p<0.05)。我们的数据表明,有机硒对断奶后大鼠 Pb 暴露引起的空间学习和记忆损伤以及突触结构可塑性具有保护作用,但对早期神经发育中减少神经元和突触数量的母体 Pb 暴露没有作用。