Glatiramer acetate reverses cognitive deficits from cranial-irradiated rat by inducing hippocampal neurogenesis

Patients received cranial-irradiation can be affected with cognitive deficits and decreasing hippocampal neurogenesis. In this work, we characterized the cognitive ability and immune-induced neurogenesis of the pre- and post-treated cranial-irradiated rats with Glatiramer acetate (GA), known as a weak CNS auto-antigen. The GA-treated rats displayed better cognitive abilities in Morris water maze (MWM). The numbers of Iba-Ipositive microglia, BrdU(+)/DCX+ cells and BrdU(+)/NeuN(+) cells in hippocampus increased, which are accompanied with increased IFN-gamma and decreased IL-6, IL-4. Furthermore, GA reverted the Th1/Th2 balance. GA treatment can reverse the cognitive deficits caused by cranial irradiation through a mechanism that likely involves immunomodulation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.