# Morphological features of microglial cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of Gunn rat: A possible schizophrenia animal model > Liaury K. URL kanonis: https://discover.unhas.ac.id/publications/pub_scopus_84858260810 Jurnal / Konferensi: Journal of Neuroinflammation Tahun terbit: 2012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-2094-9-56 ISSN: 17422094 Kuartil SJR: Q1 Citations: 50 ## Authors - Liaury K. ## Abstract BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a debilitating and complex mental disorder whose exact etiology remains unknown. There is growing amount of evidence of a relationship between neuroinflammation, as demonstrated by microglial activation, and schizophrenia. Our previous studies have proposed that hyperbilirubinemia plays a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Furthermore, we suggested the Gunn rat, an animal model of bilirubin encephalopathy, as a possible animal model of schizophrenia. However, the effects of unconjugated bilirubin on microglia, the resident immune cell of the CNS, in Gunn rats have never been investigated. In the present study, we examined how microglial cells respond to bilirubin toxicity in adult Gunn rats. METHODS: Using immunohistochemical techniques, we compared the distribution, morphology, and ultrastructural features of microglial cells in Gunn rats with Wistar rats as a normal control. We also determined the ratio of activated and resting microglia and observed microglia-neuron interactions. We characterized the microglial cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. RESULTS: We found that microglial cells showed activated morphology in the hilus, subgranular zone, and granular layer of the Gunn rat hippocampal dentate gyrus. There was no significant difference between cell numbers between in Gunn rats and controls. However, there was significant difference in the area of CD11b expression in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Ultrastructurally, microglial cells often contained rich enlarged rich organelles in the cytoplasm and showed some phagocytic function. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that activation of microglia could be an important causal factor of the behavioral abnormalities and neuropathological changes in Gunn rats. These findings may provide basic information for further assessment of the Gunn rat as an animal model of schizophrenia. ## Keywords - Dentate gyrus - Microglia - Hippocampal formation - Neuroscience - Schizophrenia (object-oriented programming) - Hippocampus - Neuroinflammation - Pathology - Biology - Psychology - Medicine - Inflammation - Internal medicine - Psychiatry --- Sumber: Discover Unhas — RIMS Universitas Hasanuddin. Saat mengutip, gunakan DOI bila tersedia atau URL kanonis di atas.