Reduced nerve growth factor levels in stress-related brain regions of folate-deficient mice

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Reduced nerve growth factor levels in stress-related brain regions of folate-deficient mice
Creators Name:	Eckart, S. and Hoertnagl, H. and Kronenberg, G. and Gertz, K. and Hoerster, H. and Endres, M. and Hellweg, R.
Abstract:	Folate deficiency has been linked to neurodegenerative and stress-related diseases such as stroke, dementia and depression. The role of the neurotrophins nerve growth factor (NGF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) in stress-related disorders and neurodegeneration has garnered increasing attention in recent years. Uracil misincorporation is involved in the neuropsychiatric dysfunction induced by experimental folate deprivation. However, the effects of folate deficiency on the expression of NGF and NT-3 in brain tissue have not yet been investigated. In a 2×2 design, aged mice lacking uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (Ung(-/-)) versus wild-type (Ung(+/+)) controls were subjected to a folate-deficient diet versus a regular diet for three months. Independent of genotype, folate deficiency led to decreased NGF protein levels in the frontal cortex and amygdala. In the hippocampus, NGF levels were increased in UNG(-/-) mice on the normal diet, but not under folate deficiency, while in UNG(+/+) mice, folate deprivation did not affect hippocampal NGF content. NT-3 protein concentrations were neither affected by genotype nor by folate deficiency. Altogether, the results of our study show that folate deficiency affects NGF levels in the frontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus. The decrease in NGF content in the hippocampus in response to folate deficiency in Ung(-/-) mice may contribute to their phenotype of enhanced anxiety and despair-like behavior as well as to selective hippocampal neurodegeneration.
Keywords:	NGF, NT-3, Folate, Uracil Misincorporation, Depression, UNG, Animals, Mice
Source:	Neuroscience
ISSN:	0306-4522
Publisher:	Elsevier / Pergamon Press
Volume:	245
Page Range:	129-135
Date:	15 August 2013
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.04.014
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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