The regulation of astroglia on synaptic plasticity in the CA1 region of rat hippocampus was examined. Rats were divided into three groups: the newly born (< 24 h), the juvenile (28-30 days) and the adult groups (90 - 100 days), with each group having 20 animals. The CA1 region of rat hippocampus was immunohistochemically and electron-microscopically examined, respectively, for the growth of astroglia and the ultrastructure of synapses. The high performance liquid chromatography was employed to determine the cholesterol content of rat hippocampus. In the newly-born rats, a large number of neurons were noted in the hippocampal CA1 region of the newly-born rats, and few astroglia and no synaptic structure were observed. In the juvenile group, a few astroglias and some immature synapses were found, which were less than those in adult rats (P < 0.01). The cholesterol content was 2.92 +/- 0.03 mg/g, 11.20 +/- 3.41 mg/g and 12.91 +/- 1.25 mg/g for newly born, the juvenile and the adult groups, respectively, with the differences among them being statistically significant (P < 0.01). Our study suggests that the astrocytes may play an important role in the synaptic formation and functional maturity of hippocampal neurons, which may be related to the secretion of cholesterol from astrocytes.
Age Factors ; Animals, Newborn ; Astrocytes/cytology ; Astrocytes/metabolism ; Astrocytes/*physiology ; CA1 Region, Hippocampal/*physiology ; CA1 Region, Hippocampal/*ultrastructure ; Cell Communication/physiology ; Cholesterol/metabolism ; Neuronal Plasticity/*physiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats, Wistar ; Synapses/*physiology ; Synapses/ultrastructure