Pharmacologically induced neural plasticity in the prefrontal cortex of adult gerbils ( Meriones unguiculatus)

• Published in: European journal of pharmacology 1997-05, Vol.327 (2), p.117-123
• Main Authors: Dawirs, Ralph R, Teuchert-Noodt, Gertraud, Nossoll, Marc
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cortex; Dopamine Agents - pharmacology; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid); gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - analysis; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - immunology; Gerbil; Gerbillinae; innervation; Male; Medical sciences; Methamphetamine; Methamphetamine - pharmacology; Neurons - chemistry; Neurons - cytology; Neurons - drug effects; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; prefrontal; Prefrontal Cortex - chemistry; Prefrontal Cortex - cytology; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; reactive; Synaptogenesis; Toxicity: nervous system and muscle
• ISSN: 0014-2999; 1879-0712
• DOI: 10.1016/S0014-2999(97)89650-1

Using a selective antibody serum against glutaraldehyde-conjugated γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), GABAergic neurons were identified in the medial prefrontal cortex of young adult gerbils ( Meriones unguiculatus) following a single non-invasive dose of methamphetamine (25 mg/kg i.p.) applied at the age of 90 days. GABA-immunoreactive profiles were electron microscopically counted in a defined test field (0.875 mm 2) covering the prefrontal prelimbic area after a single dose of either methamphetamine or saline. Within 30 days following the drug challenge the density of GABAergic innervation significantly increased by about 20%. Several lines of previous investigation indicate that a single dose of methamphetamine is an appropriate stimulus to cause selective autotoxic destruction of certain prefrontal dopamine fibres due to drug-induced hyperactivation. There is further indication of postsynaptic and transneuronal neuroplasticity since the densities of dendritic spines on prefrontal pyramidal cells went through a significant sequence of post-drug gain and loss. These structural dynamics resemble typical alterations seen after classical mechanical or chemical lesioning in other regions of the brain. The present results on drug-induced reactive neuroplasticity are discussed together with the current understanding of stimulus-induced adaptive reorganization in the mammalian central nervous system.