Ultrastructural changes of Basolateral Amygdaloid nuclei in the Sprague Dawley rats brain following exposure to naphthalene balls

Naphthalene is a bicyclic aromatic constituent commonly used in different domestic and marketable applications comprising soil fumigants, lavatory scent disks and mothballs. Accidentally, workers, children and animals are exposed to naphthalene mothballs, so there is a need to study the pathology behind this chemical toxicity. The current study was carried out to assess the ultra structural changes of basolateral amygdaloid nuclei in the Sprague Dawley rats brain in association to naphthalene toxicity. The toxicity model group was administered with naphthalene (200 and 400mg) using corn oil as a vehicle for 28 days. The post delayed toxicity of naphthalene high dose ingestion was also assessed in rats. After the experimental period, the brain tissue was processed to observe the ultra structural changes using a transmission electron microscope. The alterations in cell organelles, nuclei damage, mitochondrial swelling, chromatin condensation suggested naphthalene induced damage in the neurons of the basolateral amygdala of the brain in the toxicity model group. These experimental trials provide information about the alert of mothball usage in the home and identify risks linked with accidental exposure and misuse.

Kainate receptors regulate development of glutamatergic synaptic circuitry in the rodent amygdala

Perturbed information processing in the amygdala has been implicated in developmentally originating neuropsychiatric disorders. However, little is known on the mechanisms that guide formation and refinement of intrinsic connections between amygdaloid nuclei. We demonstrate that in rodents the glutamatergic connection from basolateral to central amygdala (BLA-CeA) develops rapidly during the first 10 postnatal days, before external inputs underlying amygdala-dependent behaviors emerge. During this restricted period of synaptic development, kainate-type of ionotropic glutamate receptors (KARs) are highly expressed in the BLA and tonically activated to regulate glutamate release via a G-protein-dependent mechanism. Genetic manipulation of this endogenous KAR activity locally in the newborn LA perturbed development of glutamatergic input to CeA, identifying KARs as a physiological mechanism regulating formation of the glutamatergic circuitry in the amygdala.

Kainate-type of glutamate receptors regulate wiring of intrinsic glutamatergic connectivity in the amygdala

SummaryPerturbed information processing in the amygdala has been implicated in developmentally originating neuropsychiatric disorders. However, little is known on the mechanisms that guide formation and refinement of intrinsic connections between amygdaloid nuclei. We demonstrate that the glutamatergic connection from basolateral to central amygdala (BLA-CeA) develops rapidly during the first ten postnatal days, before external inputs underlying amygdala dependent behaviors emerge. During this restricted period of synaptic development, kainate-type of ionotropic glutamate receptors (KARs) are highly expressed in the BLA and tonically activated to regulate glutamate release via a G-protein dependent mechanism. Genetic manipulation of this endogenous KAR activity locally in the newborn LA perturbed development of glutamatergic input to CeA, identifying KARs as a physiological mechanism regulating wiring of the intrinsic glutamatergic circuitry in the amygdala.