Reactive Changes in Rat Spinal Cord Microgliocytes under Acute Systemic Inflammation

Neuroinflammation is a key factor in the development of multiple neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. Developmental dynamics and duration of neuroinflammatory responses are critical to understanding the mechanisms behind physiological, biochemical and behavioral consequences of these pathologies. While the effect of acute systemic neuroinflammation on cerebral microglia has been intensively studied, spinal cord microglial cells are still receiving much less attention. This work was aimed to assess the topographic and temporal features of morphofunctional changes that arise in rat spinal cord microgliocytes under LPS-induced systemic inflammation. It was found that at early stages of neuroinflammation (24 h after LPS exposure) microgliocytes are activated in the ventral white and gray matter of the spinal cord. At the same time, microgliocytes in the dorsal part of the spinal cord exhibit no morphological correlates of activation. The density of microglia tends to increase in the ventral funiculus of the spinal cord, which also harbors the aggregates of reactive microglial cells.