Ultrastructural and immunochemical studies of glial scar formation in diabetic rats

Abstract

We explored the rebuilding of the brain parenchyma after surgical injury due to reactive astrogliosis. In the present study, we investigated the initial stages of rebuilding in the perilesional cortex of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Our methods utilized ultrastructural and immunohistochemical studies as well as Western blot analysis of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin. Data was collected at 2 days, 7 days and 2 months following a unilateral sensorimotor cortex lesion. Electron-microscopic studies revealed not only formation of glial scar tissue but also ultrastructural features of death in the elements of neurovascular unit. Immunohistochemical studies, confirmed by Western blot analysis, demonstrated the enhancement of vimentin and GFAP immunoreactivity (IR) in astrocytes located in the perilesion cortical area of the diabetic rats that were operated upon. We suggest that the process of rebuilding brain parenchyma following surgical injury may be disturbed by the induction of astrocytes and the degeneration of astrocytes, as well as by morphological changes within capillaries that are accompanied by the presence of macrophages. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Vienna.