LAUSR

e13545Background: Cognitive deficit was the most serious complication of cranial irradiation in brain metastatic carcinoma. However, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Dendrites are the anatomic bases of synaptic contact and action potential propagation. Alterations of dendritic architecture may contribute to radiation-induced memory dysfunction. Methods: 21-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats received 10Gy cranial irradiation. 1 and 3 months later, Morris Water Maze, Fear Conditioning test and novel object recognition were used to test the memory function. Golgi staining was used to assess changes in dendritic spine density and morphology. Moreover, cytoskeletal proteins PSD-95 were analyzed with Western blot. Results: Our data showed that 10Gy cranial irradiation induced significant decline in the spatial memory and memory retention of rats and accompanied the morphological changes in dendritic spines. The result revealed significant reductions in spine density at 1 month (40.58%) and 3 months (28.92%) i...