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KMID : 1129720030200020067
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Korean Journal of Acupuncture
2003 Volume.20 No. 2 p.67 ~ p.76
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Effects of Acanthopanax senticosus herb-acupuncture on cell proliferation and nitric oxide synthase expression in dentate gyrus of alcohol-intoxicated rats
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Kim Jong-Chul
Lee Eun-Yong
Kim Ho-Hyun
Kim E-Hwa
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Abstract
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Alcohol consumption is known to cause substantial neuronal loss in several regions of the brain1-3). It has been reported that alcohol induces death in a variety of cells including astroglia1) and neuroblastoma cells2) in vitro and that it triggers apoptotic neurodegeneration in the developing rat brain in vivo3). In addition, alcohol intake during the developmental stage has been correlated with deficits in learning and memory4). Loss of neurons is thought to be irreversible in the adult human brain, because dying neurons cannot be replaced. This inability to generate replacement cells is thought to be an important cause of neurological disease and impairment. In most brain regions, the generation of neurons is generally confined to a discrete developmental period. Exceptions are found in the dentate gyrus and the subventricular zone of several species that have been shown to generate new neurons well into the postnatal and adult period5-10). Granule neurons are generated throughout life from a population of continuously dividing progenitor cells residing in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the rodent brain9). ’Newborn’ neurons generated from these progenitor cells migrate into the granule cell layer, differentiate, extend axons and express neuronal marker proteins11-14). It has been demonstrated that the process of neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons, occurs in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in a variety of mammals, including humans15,16). Several factors, including glucocorticoids, estrogen, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, serotonin, ischemia, seizures, and environmental stimuli are known to influence the proliferation of granule cell precursors in the adult dentate gyrus15-17). However, no study on the effect of alcohol on cell proliferation has been published to date.
Nitric oxide (NO), synthesized from L-arginine by nitric oxide synthase (NOS), is a free radical molecule with signaling functions; it has been implicated in numerous physiological and pathological processes in the brain18). Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH -d) is a histochemical marker specific for NOS in the central nervous system (CNS)19). Neurons containing NADPH-d have been reported to be relatively resistant to various toxic insults and neurodegenerative diseases20). It has been shown that alcohol inhibits NO production in vivo, and thus it may be suggested that NO is of relevance in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced brain damage21). Moreno- Lopez et al.22) suggested that NOS may play an important role during neurogenesis in the subventricular zone of adult mice, and the expression of neuronal- NOS or epidermal- NOS was observed to have increased during the differentiation of cells23). Traditionally, Acanthopanax senticosus (AS), a member of the araliaceae family, is a herb which has been used traditionally for improvement from ischemic injury, rheumatism, weakened physical status, and for its hypoglycemic action24-26). In the present study, the effects of AS on cell proliferation and NOS expression in the dentate gyrus of rats in the process of growing up which had been acutely intoxicated with alcohol were investigated via 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry and NADPH-d histochemistry, respectively.
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KEYWORD
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Acanthopanax senticosus, Alcohol, Immunohistochemistry
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