Astrocyte atrophy and immune dysfunction in self-harming macaques

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a complex condition that exhibits a spectrum of abnormal neuropsychological and locomotor behaviors. Mechanisms for neuropathogenesis could include irregular immune activation, host soluble factors, and astrocyte dysfunction. We examined the role of astrocytes as mod...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-07, Vol.8 (7), p.e69980-e69980
Main Authors: Lee, Kim M, Chiu, Kevin B, Sansing, Hope A, Inglis, Fiona M, Baker, Kate C, MacLean, Andrew G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activation
Addictive behaviors
Animals
Astrocytes
Astrocytes - immunology
Astrocytes - pathology
Atrophy
Atrophy - immunology
Atrophy - pathology
Bifurcations
Biology
Blood-brain barrier
Brain research
Cell Size
Glial fibrillary acidic protein
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - analysis
Hypotheses
Immune response
Immune system
Immunology
Immunomodulation
Macaca - immunology
Macaca - physiology
Macaca mulatta
Medicine
Modulators
Monkeys & apes
Morphology
Neuromodulation
Neurons
Neuropathogenesis
Neuropathology
Neurosciences
Paraffin
Population
Proteins
Self destructive behavior
Self-Injurious Behavior - immunology
Self-Injurious Behavior - pathology
Self-Injurious Behavior - physiopathology
Self-injury
Substantia alba
Substantia grisea
Suicides & suicide attempts
Tips
TLR2 protein
Toll-Like Receptor 2 - analysis
Toll-like receptors
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Summary:Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a complex condition that exhibits a spectrum of abnormal neuropsychological and locomotor behaviors. Mechanisms for neuropathogenesis could include irregular immune activation, host soluble factors, and astrocyte dysfunction. We examined the role of astrocytes as modulators of immune function in macaques with SIB. We measured changes in astrocyte morphology and function. Paraffin sections of frontal cortices from rhesus macaques identified with SIB were stained for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). Morphologic features of astrocytes were determined using computer-assisted camera lucida. There was atrophy of white matter astrocyte cell bodies, decreased arbor length in both white and gray matter astrocytes, and decreased bifurcations and tips on astrocytes in animals with SIB. This was combined with a five-fold increase in the proportion of astrocytes immunopositive for TLR2. These results provide direct evidence that SIB induces immune activation of astrocytes concomitant with quantifiably different morphology.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0069980