Abstract 4754: Fractionated whole brain radiation-induced behavioral changes in athymic nude mice is associated with sustained neuroinflammation and microglial M1-phenotype

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2017-07, Vol.77 (13_Supplement), p.4754-4754
• Main Authors: Kanji, Suman, Johnson, Benjamin, Witcher, Kristina, Gulati, Pooja Gulati, Chen, Shannon, Godbout, Jonathan, Nelson, Randy J., Haque, Saikh, Chakravarti, Arnab
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4754

The objective of this study is to study the late-chronic effects of fractionated whole brain irradiation (fWBI) on cognitive impairment and associated cellular and molecular neuro-inflammatory mechanisms using clinically relevant and reliable mouse models. Microglia are recognized as the primary innate immune component of neuroinflammation. However, microglial contributions to radiation-induced cognitive impairment are poorly understood. Here, an athymic nude (Nu/Nu) mouse model was employed to address this issue. Mice were divided into two groups: radiation treatment (XRT) and no-treatment control (CTL). The whole brain of each XRT mouse received 30 Gy (3 Gy/fraction) of radiation over two weeks. XRT and CTL mice were assessed for cognitive and behavioral changes at 1, 4, and 6 months posttreatment using the novel object recognition test (for long-term, non-spatial memory), the free running Y-Maze (for short-term, spatial memory) and Barnes Maze (for spatial learning and memory). A significant decline in novel object recognition in the XRT group (P