In the brains of humans and mice, microglial cells with a highly variable shape check whether everything is okay. Using “algebraic topology”, researchers from Lower Austria recorded their different shapes in the brains of mice for the first time. They saw that microglia fight Alzheimer’s disease differently in men and women and that general anesthesia changes them permanently.
A team led by Sandra Siegert of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg mathematically analyzed the different shapes of microglia: They investigated the positional relationships of the complicated, branching structures in the same way mathematicians study the properties of geometric objects. This allowed the researchers to distinguish between the most diverse types of microglia in different brain regions, developmental stages and sexes. They used the collected data to create an “atlas of microglial shapes.”
They also inspected the microglia of special mice, whose brains suffer from the same damage and disorders as human Alzheimer’s patients. The shape (morphology) of the microglia changed “strikingly different” in men and women, according to the researchers, whose study was published in the journal “Nature Neuroscience.” “While the changes in the microglia are more continuous in the males, we saw a jerky change in the females,” explains Siegert, “We hypothesize a possible neuroprotective role of the microglia in the beginning, which is probably less pronounced in males. ” Over time, this protection would be lost and the deterioration of the cells (degeneration) would be accelerated.
General anesthesia brings lasting change
In another experiment, Siegert’s team examined the influence of the anesthetic “ketamine” on the mouse brain. “We already knew from previous work that it has dramatic effects,” say the researchers: “The microglia suddenly begin to remove a structure that stabilizes the brain’s neuronal connections.” relegated to younger brains.
The new method allowed the researchers to observe that these changes are permanent: “General anesthesia is considered to be a completely reversible process, but the topology of the microglia has shown that this is not the case,” they wrote. microglia do not return to the initial state.” It is impossible to say what this means in practice.
Dose much higher in mice
However, the dosage used in the experiments was higher than that used in the clinic, Sieghart said: “Mice require a dosage about 10 times higher for general anesthesia than in humans.” are metabolized faster.
Source: Krone
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