Prenatal and early life exposure to air pollution induced hippocampal vascular leakage and impaired neurogenesis in association with behavioral deficits.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is associated with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders in human populations. In rodent models, prenatal TRAP exposure increased depressive behaviors and increased brain microglial activity. To identify cellular mechanisms, we examined adult neurogenesis and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in relation to cognition and motivated behaviors in rats that were exposed to a nano-sized TRAP subfraction from gestation into adulthood. At age 5 months, exposed male rats had 70% fewer newly generated neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. Microglia were activated in DG and CA1 subfields (35% more Iba1). The BBB was altered, with a 75% decrease of the tight junction protein ZO-1 in the CA1 layer, and twofold more iron deposits, a marker

SUBMITTER: Woodward NC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6265287 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature