Septal fetal tissue transplants restore long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus of fimbria-formix-lesioned rats.

Two groups of Sprague-Dawley male rats received bilateral aspirative lesions of the fimbria fornix under chloral hydrate anesthesia. One group (n = 9) received no further treatment (lesioned). In the second group (n = 8), a piece of septal fetal tissue, obtained at day E15-16, was implanted into each lesion cavity (transplanted). A third group consisted of shamlesioned rats (controls, n = 14). Two months after the operations, a recording electrode was implanted in the hilar region of the dentate gyrus of each animal, and a bipolar stimulating electrode was implanted in the perforant path. Long-term potentiation at 400 Hz was induced and followed for two hours. FF-lesioned rats showed an impaired potentiation of the field excitatory post-synaptic potential, which rapidly declined to basal levels within 15 minutes. The transplanted rats showed a normal potentiation of this parameter, similar to that seen in the control animals. A decrease in choline acetyltransferase activity in the hippocampi of the lesioned animals showed a tendency toward recovery after septal fetal tissue transplantation. In all the dorsal hippocampal areas of the lesioned animals, acetylcholinesterase histochemistry showed an almost complete loss of enzymatic activity, which was partially restored by the transplants. The improved synaptic plasticity in the transplanted animals might be related to septal transplant-induced recovery of mnemonic functions.