| First Author | Weberpals M | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | J Neurosci | Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 45 | Pages | 14177-84 |
| PubMed ID | 19906966 | Mgi Jnum | J:154742 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4398762 | Doi | 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3238-09.2009 |
| Citation | Weberpals M, et al. (2009) NOS2 gene deficiency protects from sepsis-induced long-term cognitive deficits. J Neurosci 29(45):14177-84 |
| abstractText | To date, long-term consequences of septic encephalopathy on cerebral metabolism, cognition, learning, and memory capabilities and factors involved are poorly understood. In this study, we used a murine sepsis model to demonstrate that bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causes long-term cognitive deficits in mice. Two months after LPS treatment, wild-type mice committed more working and reference memory errors than controls. The behavioral impairment was independent of the cerebral glucose uptake as evidenced by (18)F-Fluordeoxyglucose small animal positron emission tomography. In contrast, mice deficient for the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene (NOS2-/-) did not show any cognitive changes when challenged with LPS. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that LPS did not lead to neuronal cell death but caused sustained microglial activation in wild-type as compared to NOS2-/- mice. Expression analysis showed that LPS-treated NOS2-/- mice had lower brain mRNA levels for proinflammatory factors compared with wild-type mice. Expression analysis demonstrated distinct changes in the content of synaptic proteins in wild-type mice, which were not observed in the NOS2-/- mice. Together, this data set outlines the importance of the NOS2 activation for long-term cerebral changes after severe sepsis. |
