Abstract # 1766 Myocardial infarction influences microglia morphology in the hypothalamus

It is now recognized that myocardial infarction (MI) leads to changes in the brain, which may be linked to mental problems. Myocardial infarction (MI) evokes TNF-alpha expression and microglia activation in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), reflecting neuroinflammation. Here we studied the effect of TNF-alpha interference on microglia activity after MI. Male 12-week old c57bl/6 mice underwent coronary artery ligation or sham surgery. MI mice were treated with either saline, Etanercept, a TNF-R1 antagonist or a TNF-R2 agonist. Sham mice received saline injections. Mice were sacrificed 18 days later and the PVN and hippocampus were stained for microglia. Microglia activity score was based on morphology, as we calculated the ratio of cell body/total cell size. In the PVN, we found a significant decrease in the number of microglia in the MI + TNF-R2 agonist group compared to sham ( p p