Time course of glial proliferation and glial apoptosis following excitotoxic CNS injury

Activation of microglial cells and astrocytes after CNS injury results in changes in their morphology, immunophenotype and proliferative activity and has neurotrophic as well as neurotoxic consequences. However, little is known about the exact time course of glial activation as regards their proliferative activity and their fate. In this study, quantification of the densities of proliferating and non-proliferating microglial cells and astrocytes was carried out over 30 days by counting differentially labeled cells in the striatum and substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) after injection of quinolinic acid into the rat striatum. The TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-reaction was used to detect possible apoptotic mechanisms which limit the glial reaction. At 1 day post injection (p.i.) non-proliferating ameboid microglia/macrophages were seen in the striatum, but at 3 and 5 days p.i. many proliferating, ameboid microglia/macrophages and hypertrophic microglia were detected. At 10 days p.i., the time point with the highest density of hypertrophic microglia, TUNEL-positive microglial cells were observed indicating that apoptotic processes play a role in restricting this reaction. In contrast to this, at early time points, a reduction in the density and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-immunoreactivity of astrocytes in the striatum was detected. At later time points, a dense astrogliosis with proliferating astrocytes developed in the dorsal and medial striatum. At 30 days p.i., in the entire striatum a dense astrogliosis was detected. The SNr showed a short period of microglial activation and proliferation and a long lasting astrogliosis without proliferation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.