Effects of short‐ and long‐term ganglioside treatment on the recovery of neurochemical markers in the ibotenic acid‐lesioned rat striatum

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Abstract
The striatum of adult rats was bilaterally lesioned with stereotaxic injections of ibotenic acid in a dose (16 nmoles) that resulted in subtotal lesions. Some rats received systemic ganglioside treatment starting the day before operation and lasting for 6 or 24 days after operation; they were compared with lesioned rat receiving systemic saline injections as well as with corresponding groups of sham‐operated animals. Specific neurochemical markers for cholinergic neurons (choline acetyltransferase, ChAT), GABAergic neurons (glutamate decarboxylase; GAD), and astrocytes (glutamine synthetase; GS) were assayed to asses the neurochemical recovery promoted by ganglioside treatment. Twenty‐four, but not six, days after operation a significant increase of ChAT and GAD was measured in the striatum of lesioned rats treated with gangliosides in comparison with the saline group. Furthermore, a significant increase of both enzymes occurred in the striatum of lesioned rats receiving ganglioside treatment for 24 days in comparison with rats receiving gangliosde treatment for 6 days only. A small but significant increase of ChAT was measured in the striatum of sham‐operated rats after 24 days of ganglioside treatment in comparison with the corresponding saline group. Finally, the increase of GS caused by the glial reaction to the ibotenic acid lesion was not affected by ganglioside treatment. The results indicate that a relatively long‐lasting ganglioside treatment stimulates the recovery of specific neuronal transmitter markers and that some effect is, in addition, exerted on unlesioned cholinergic striatal neurons.

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