Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6802972 | Neurobiology of Aging | 2018 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
This study explored the effects of long-term photobiomodulation (PBM) on the glial and neuronal organization in the striatum of aged mice. Mice aged 12Â months were pretreated with PBM (670Â nm) for 20Â minutes per day, commencing at 5Â months old and continued for 8Â months. We had 2 control groups, young at 3 months and aged at 12Â months old; these mice received no treatment. Brains were aldehyde-fixed and processed for immunohistochemistry with various glial and neuronal markers. We found a clear reduction in glial cell number, both astrocytes and microglia, in the striatum after PBM in aged mice. By contrast, the number of 2 types of striatal interneurons (parvalbumin+ and encephalopsin+), together with the density of striatal dopaminergic terminals (and their midbrain cell bodies), remained unchanged after such treatment. In summary, our results indicated that long-term PBM had beneficial effects on the aging striatum by reducing glial cell number; and furthermore, that this treatment did not have any deleterious effects on the neurons and terminations in this nucleus.
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Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Ageing
Authors
Nabil El Massri, Tobias W. Weinrich, Jaimie Hoh Kam, Glen Jeffery, John Mitrofanis,