Efeitos do topiramato sobre as alterações neurocomportamentais e parâmetros inflamatórios induzidos pela separação materna

Abstract

Introduction: Psychiatric disorders are among the most common diseases and represent an important public health problem. The neurobiological processes implicated in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders are not fully known. Exposure to adverse events in early life increases the risk of developing neuropsychiatric conditions in adulthood, including affective disorders and psychosis. In rodents, maternal separation (MS) is commonly used as a model of exposure to stress in early life. MS may cause long-term effects on brain function, including cellular, neurochemical and behavioral changes. The involvement of pro -inflammatory cytokines in neuropsychiatric disorders has attracted increasing interest from researchers. Topiramate is an antiepileptic drug that has proven to exhibit neuroprotective properties in animal models of brain injury, reducing neuronal damage in animal models of neonatal hypoxic ischemia and attenuating memory deficits. Objectives: To investigate the effect of Topiramate (Top) in reversing cognitive impairment in rats submitted to neonatal stress induced by MS and compare with Valproic Acid (Val), which was previously studied by our research group. Furthermore, to investigate the effects of neonatal stress with and without treatment with Val and Top on BDNF, TNF- α, and Interleukin 10 (IL-10) levels. Methodology: Study on animal model of stress exposure in neonatal period (method of MS), in male rats. Treatment with Top and Val in adulthood: one group received 10mg/kg of Top orally once a day for 14 days, the other group received 100mg/kg of Top in the same period, another group received Val 200mg/kg orally in the same period, and the other group received the same corresponding amount in milliliters also orally of saline solution (control group). Behavioral tests (motor/exploratory activity, recognition memory), and analyzes of BDNF, TNF- α , and IL-10 levels were performed in adulthood. Results: The MS during the neonatal period causes memory impairment in adult rats. The treatment in adults with Top caused injury to memory when used, independently of maternal separation. Likewise, it also failed to reverse the damage caused by MS. Pharmacological treatment with Val in adulthood reversed long-term (LTM) memory deficits induced by MS and caused an improvement in short-term memory (STM) in rats separated from the mother. The MS induced a significant increase in IL -10 when the separated-saline (MS - Sal) was compared with the control group (non-separated-saline, NS-Sal). Statistical comparisons of TNF-α levels, indicated that the group subjected to MS which received saline (MS - Sal) showed a significant increase in the levels of TNF-α in the hippocampus when compared with the control group. Similarly, the levels of TNF-α in the group MS-Sal were also increased in cortex, compared to NS-Sal group. The MS induced a significant decrease in BDNF levels in the hippocampus, when the group MS-Sal was compared with the control group. No statistically significant difference was observed in the comparison of BDNF in prefrontal cortex. Conclusions: MS leads to persistent memory deficits and increases levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, and of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-α, and decreases levels of BDNF in adulthood. Val partially alleviated these memory deficits, while Top was ineffective. Surprisingly, the two drugs were able to recover levels of cytokines in brain regions studied.