Male Stressed Mice Having Behavioral Control Exhibit Escalations in Dorsal Dentate Adult-Born Neurons and Spatial Memory.

An escapable (ES)/inescapable stress (IS) paradigm was used to study whether behavioral control and repeated footshock stressors may affect adult neurogenesis and related cognitive function. Male stressed mice having behavioral control (ES) had a short-term escalation in dorsal dentate gyrus (DG) neurogenesis, while similarly stressed mice having no such control had unaltered neurogenesis as compared to control mice receiving no stressors. Paradoxically, ES and IS mice had comparable stress-induced corticosterone elevations throughout the stress regimen. Appetitive operant conditioning and forced running procedures were used to model learning and exercise effects in this escapable/inescapable paradigm. Further, conditioning and running procedures did not seem to affect the mice's corticosterone or short-term neurogenesis. ES and IS mice did not show noticeable long-term changes in their dorsal DG neurogenesis, gliogenesis, local neuronal density, apoptosis, autophagic flux, or heterotypic stress responses. ES mice were found to have a greater number of previously labeled and functionally integrated DG neurons as compared to IS and control mice 6 weeks after the conclusion of the stressor regimen. Likewise, ES mice outperformed IS and non-stressed control mice for the first two, but not the remaining two, trials in the object location task. Compared to non-stressed controls, temozolomide-treated ES and IS mice having a lower number of dorsal DG 6-week-old neurons display poor performance in their object location working memory. These results, taken together, prompt us to conclude that repeated stressors, albeit their corticosterone secretion-stimulating effect, do not necessary affect adult dorsal DG neurogenesis. Moreover, stressed animals having behavioral control may display adult neurogenesis escalation in the dorsal DG. Furthermore, the number of 6-week-old and functionally-integrated neurons in the dorsal DG seems to confer the quality of spatial location working memory. Finally, these 6-week-old, adult-born neurons seem to contribute spatial location memory in a use-dependent manner.

Stress while lacking of control induces ventral hippocampal autophagic flux hyperactivity and a depression-like behavior.

BACKGROUND: Stressed animals may perform depression-like behavior insomuch as stress-provoking blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, central immune activation, and autophagic flux changes. This study was undertaken to assess whether adult mice having (executive) vs. lacking (yoke) of behavioral control in otherwise equivalent stress magnitude condition, may display differences in their BBB integrity, ventral hippocampal (VH) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and autophagic flux level and VH-related depression-like behavior. To further understand the causative relation of enhanced autophagic flux and stress-primed depression-like behavior, we assessed the effects of bilateral intra-VH 3-methyladenine (3-MA), an autophagic flux inhibitor, infusion in stressed mice. METHODS: Adult mice used had comparable genetic background and housing condition. Executive/yoke pairs of mice received a 10-day (1 h/day) footshock stressor regimen. Throughout the regimen, the ongoing footshock was terminated immediately contingent on the executive mouse', while irrelevant to the respective yoke mouse' voluntary behavior, or lasting for 7 s. Each dyad's cage-mate receiving no such regimen served as no stressor controls. RESULTS: Yoke mice displayed disrupted BBB integrity (escalated Evans blue extravasation and decreased VH ZO-1, claudin-5 expression), increases in VH autophagic flux (increased LC3II/LC3I and decreased p62) and immobility duration in forced swimming test. Most of these indices remained unaltered in executive mice. Administration of 3-MA did not affect immobility duration in control mice, while prevented the increases in immobility duration in yoke mice. CONCLUSIONS: (1) stress susceptibility may be determined by their differences in stress-coping results; (2) VH autophagic flux increase plays a permissive role in priming the stressed animals susceptible to exhibit depression-like behavior.

Repair of a large recurrent congenital lumbar hernia with free composite anterolateral thigh flap, tensor fascia lata flap, and vastus lateralis flap and meshes: A case report.

Congenital lumbar hernia (LH) is a rare abdominal wall herniation and associated with lumbocostovertebral syndrome, including vertebral anomalies, costal defects and LH. There are reports using extraperitoneal placement of mesh, patches, and local flaps for repairing the LH. In this report we present a case of repair of a large recurrent congenital LH with free composite anterolateral thigh flap, tensor fascia lata flap and vastus lateralis flap (ALT-TFL-VL flap) and meshes. The patient underwent multiple cutaneous neurofibroma excisions before the treatment of LH. Recurrent neurofibroma and congenital aplasia of lumbar muscles at right flank may contribute to the patient's diffuse congenital LH development. Considering a large fascia defect (12 cm × 15 cm) with absence of lumbar muscles at the herniation site, using mesh alone is not strong enough to stop the herniation of bowel. Transposition of right pedicled ALT-TFL-VL flap (35 cm × 12 cm) with mesh was first attempted but proven to be futile, since the right lumbar wall bulged out from the distal border of previous reconstructed fascia. Thus, another free composite ALT-TFL-VL flap (35 cm × 15 cm) from left thigh was transferred on top of the previous pedicled flap, followed by delayed free flap advancement and surgical mesh addition. Post-operative course was smooth without complications. Twenty-one months after the surgery, computed tomography showed no recurrence of LH. Such case with large recurrent diffuse LH may be treated by a combination of conventional method with meshes and serial reconstruction with pedicled and free flaps for dynamic reconstruction of abdominal wall.