2 research outputs found
Chronic Ethanol Consumption Profoundly Alters Regional Brain Ceramide and Sphingomyelin Content in Rodents
Ceramides
(CER) are involved in alcohol-induced neuroinflammation.
In a mouse model of chronic alcohol exposure, 16 CER and 18 sphingomyelin
(SM) concentrations from whole brain lipid extracts were measured
using electrospray mass spectrometry. All 18 CER concentrations in
alcohol exposed adults increased significantly (range: 25–607%);
in juveniles, 6 CER decreased (range: −9 to −37%). In
contrast, only three SM decreased in adult and one increased significantly
in juvenile. Next, regional identification at 50 μm spatial
resolution from coronal sections was obtained with matrix implanted
laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MILDI-MSI)
by implanting silver nanoparticulate matrices followed by focused
laser desorption. Most of the CER and SM quantified in whole brain
extracts were detected in MILDI images. Coronal sections from three
brain levels show qualitative regional changes in CER-SM ion intensities,
as a function of group and brain region, in cortex, striatum, accumbens,
habenula, and hippocampus. Highly correlated changes in certain white
matter CER-SM pairs occur in regions across all groups, including
the hippocampus and the lateral (but not medial) cerebellar cortex
of adult mice. Our data provide the first microscale MS evidence of
regional lipid intensity variations induced by alcohol
Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Ceramide Biomarkers Tracks Therapeutic Response in Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic
brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health problem
and the leading cause of death in children and young adults. It also
contributes to a substantial number of cases of permanent disability.
As lipids make up over 50% of the brain mass and play a key role in
both membrane structure and cell signaling, their profile is of particular
interest. In this study, we show that advanced mass spectrometry imaging
(MSI) has sufficient technical accuracy and reproducibility to demonstrate
the anatomical distribution of 50 μm diameter microdomains that
show changes in brain ceramide levels in a rat model of controlled
cortical impact (CCI) 3 days post injury with and without treatment.
Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats received one strike and were
euthanized 3 days post trauma. Brain MS images showed increase in
ceramides in CCI animals compared to control as well as significant
reduction in ceramides in CCI treated animals, demonstrating therapeutic
effect of a peptide agonist. The data also suggests the presence of
diffuse changes outside of the injured area. These results shed light
on the extent of biochemical and structural changes in the brain after
traumatic brain injury and could help to evaluate the efficacy of
treatments