Towards an improved survival of rat brain neurons in culture by cerebrospinal fluid of patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer's type

Abstract

Neuronal cell survival was investigated in rat brain cortical cultures in the presence of increaseing concentrations of human brain extracts or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from control and Senile Dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) patients. Using hippocampal brain extracts, converted 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) was compared to the content of the neuronal marker MAP2 in foeral rat brain neuronal cultures in order to test converted MTT as a quantitative parameter for neuronal cell survival. A significant correlatio was found between both parameters. SDAT frontal cortex brain extracts induced a two to four-fold increase in neuronal cell survival at 25 to 125 μg protein extract, whereas control brain extracts induced at similar protein concentrations a decline in neuronal cell survival. The enhanced survival yielded by SDAT brain extracts was fully abolished in the presence of control brain extract. Control CSF concentration-dependently increased neuronal cell survival in postnatal rat brain neuronal cultures independent of the difference in the protein content of CSF samples and age of the patients. SDAT CSF also concentration-dependently enhanced neuronal cell survival, however, the effect was more pronounced compared to control CSF. These observations are in favour of the hypothesis that there might a higher neurotrophic activity in SDAT brain tissue.