GFAP Expression in the Cerebral Cortex during the Development of Cerebral Hypoxia in Rats Showing Different Results in the Morris Water Maze

Abstract

The state of cognitive functions in cerebrovascular disorders is one of the most urgent healthcare problems. Recently obtained data convincingly indicate the participation of astrocytes in the formation of cognitive functions of the brain. We conducted a study on 88 Wistar rats. Following the results of testing the rats in a Morris water maze, all animals were divided into two subgroups: those with a high (HLA) and low (LLA) level of spatial situational learning abilities in the Morris water maze test. The animals in the experimental group (48 animals) underwent bilateral ligation of both carotid arteries. The animals were removed from the experiment on the 21st, 60th and 90th day after the operation. Glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP), a marker of mature astrocytes, was detected using primary polyclonal rabbit antibodies on histological sections of the precentral gyrus of the brain. Data were obtained on a more pronounced decrease in the numerical density of astrocyte bodies and the number of astrocyte main processes in HLA and LLA animals in earlier (on the 21st day) and later (on the 90th day) stages of the experiment, respectively. The growth of the area occupied by the astrocyte processes occurred earlier in HLA animals (on the 60th day after the simulation) compared to LLA animals (on the 90th day after the simulation). The conducted factor analysis confirmed the presence of two factors associated with the dynamics of the studied parameters. The conclusion is made about alternative variants of changes in the studied groups. The HLA subgroup predominantly demonstrated changes of an alterational character in earlier experimental stages, while adaptive changes were observed in the later stages of the experiment. Conversely, in the LLA subgroup, alterations and adaptations occurred in later and earlier experimental stages, respectively.