A Comparative Analysis of Microglial and Astrocyte Transplantation in an Amyloid-Induced Rat for Alzheimer’s Disease
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Neurosurgery, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700115 Iasi, Romania
- 2Department of Neurosurgery “Prof. Dr. N. Oblu” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700361 Iasi, Romania
- 3Advanced Research and Development Center for Experimental Medicine “Prof. Ostin C. Mungiu”—CEMEX, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700115 Iasi, Romania
- 4Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iasi University of Life Sciences, Mihail Sadoveanu Alley 8, 700490 Iasi, Romania
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is recognized as a neuroglial disorder in which dysregulated glial responses contribute to cognitive decline. We investigated whether intrahippocampal transplantation of primary glial cells modifies cognitive trajectories in an amyloid-induced rat model of AD. Sprague–Dawley rats received bilateral hippocampal injections of pre-aggregated Aβ1–42, followed by transplantation of primary astrocytes (AA) or microglia (AM). Memory was assessed using the Y-maze and novel object recognition (NOR) tests. Body weight and serum IL-6 and TNF-α were monitored for adverse effects, and GFAP, S100, Iba1 and TREM2 immunolabeling was quantified with QuPath. Mixed-effects models showed significant session and group x session effects on Y–maze spatial novelty recognition. Both treated groups improved compared with AD animals, with a stronger late effect in the AM group and a significant group × session × sex interaction. In the NOR test, both treated groups outperformed AD animals at the final session, without differences between them. GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) immunoreactivity was reduced in the AM group but remained elevated in the AA group, while TREM2 increased after microglial and decreased after astrocyte transplantation. No adverse effects were detected in the monitored parameters. Intrahippocampal glial transplantation, particularly with microglia, may influence cognitive trajectories in established amyloid pathology.
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BibTeX
@article{curecheriu2026comparative,
title = {{A Comparative Analysis of Microglial and Astrocyte Transplantation in an Amyloid-Induced Rat for Alzheimer’s Disease}},
author = {Loredana Mariana Curecheriu and Bogdan Florin Iliescu and Gabriela Dumitrița Stanciu and Ivona Mazarianu and Andrei Szilagyi and Maria-Raluca Gogu and Mitica Ciorpac and Ioana-Miruna Balmus and Paul Tutu and Loredana Horodincu and Florentina Daraban Bocaneti and Ozana Maria Hritcu and Aurelian-Sorin Pasca and Bogdan Ionel Tamba and Mihaela Dana Turliuc},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27219667},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9667},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Comparative Analysis of Microglial and Astrocyte Transplantation in an Amyloid-Induced Rat for Alzheimer’s Disease
AU - Loredana Mariana Curecheriu
AU - Bogdan Florin Iliescu
AU - Gabriela Dumitrița Stanciu
AU - Ivona Mazarianu
AU - Andrei Szilagyi
AU - Maria-Raluca Gogu
AU - Mitica Ciorpac
AU - Ioana-Miruna Balmus
AU - Paul Tutu
AU - Loredana Horodincu
AU - Florentina Daraban Bocaneti
AU - Ozana Maria Hritcu
AU - Aurelian-Sorin Pasca
AU - Bogdan Ionel Tamba
AU - Mihaela Dana Turliuc
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27219667
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9667
AB - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is recognized as a neuroglial disorder in which dysregulated glial responses contribute to cognitive decline. We investigated whether intrahippocampal transplantation of primary glial cells modifies cognitive trajectories in an amyloid-induced rat model of AD. Sprague–Dawley rats received bilateral hippocampal injections of pre-aggregated Aβ1–42, followed by transplantation of primary astrocytes (AA) or microglia (AM). Memory was assessed using the Y-maze and novel object recognition (NOR) tests. Body weight and serum IL-6 and TNF-α were monitored for adverse effects, and GFAP, S100, Iba1 and TREM2 immunolabeling was quantified with QuPath. Mixed-effects models showed significant session and group x session effects on Y–maze spatial novelty recognition. Both treated groups improved compared with AD animals, with a stronger late effect in the AM group and a significant group × session × sex interaction. In the NOR test, both treated groups outperformed AD animals at the final session, without differences between them. GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) immunoreactivity was reduced in the AM group but remained elevated in the AA group, while TREM2 increased after microglial and decreased after astrocyte transplantation. No adverse effects were detected in the monitored parameters. Intrahippocampal glial transplantation, particularly with microglia, may influence cognitive trajectories in established amyloid pathology.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -