Self-injurious behaviours in rhesus macaques: Potential glial mechanisms.
J Ramsey, E C Martin, O M Purcell and 2 others
PMID 30450801WHAT IT FOUND
In macaques with self-injury, frontal brain tissue showed astrocyte vimentin changes and immune-related gene pathways.
This was an animal tissue study, not a test of treatment in people.
Key findings
01Frontal lobe tissue from 9 control and 6 self-injurious rhesus macaques was compared retrospectively.
02Macaques with self-injury had increased astrocyte vimentin, significant only in white matter astrocytes, but no increase in GFAP/nestin double-positive cells.
03RNA sequencing found 437 genes down-regulated and 526 up-regulated, with pathways linked to tissue remodelling and inflammation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study used archived brain tissue from animals that had already died for other reasons, so the tissues were not collected for this question. Because the tissues were chosen only by what was available, the researchers could not examine regional differences in protein or gene expression. The study used a small number of animals. The work was done in macaques, not people, and did not test whether the observed glial changes cause self-injury or respond to treatment. Vimentin protein was increased without a matching increase in vimentin mRNA, so the mechanism for the protein change was not settled.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The publication types list NIH extramural support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that astrocyte changes cause self-injury in people or that any therapy should be changed. The study used archived macaque brain tissue, not human patients, and did not test treatment.