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Intracerebral Pretreatment with Nerve Growth Factor Prevents Irreversible Brain Lesions in Neonatal Rats Injected with Ibotenic Acid

Abstract

Injection of the excitotoxin ibotenic acid (IA) in the right striatum of 4-day-old rats causes, after 4–5 days, a depletion of choline acetyltransferase and Substance P (SP) in the caudate putamen, followed by widespread damage to the striatum, hippocampus and dorsal thalamus. Injections of nerve growth factor (NGF) before and after IA treatment prevent these degenerative changes. At variance with the results reported in adult rats showing that NGF causes only partial reversal of IA lesions, NGF in young rats appears to completely prevent cell damage induced by IA.

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Aloe, L. Intracerebral Pretreatment with Nerve Growth Factor Prevents Irreversible Brain Lesions in Neonatal Rats Injected with Ibotenic Acid. Nat Biotechnol 5, 1085–1086 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1087-1085

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