Research Article Pioglitazone Ameliorates Neuron Loss in the Cortex after Aluminum-Treatment in Rats

Copyright © 2015 Ali Rafati et al.This is an open access article distributed under theCreative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The objective was evaluation of the effects of pioglitazone on medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the rats exposed to aluminum (Al). Al induces structural changes in several brain regions, including mPFC. Pioglitazone is an agonist of peroxisomal proliferator activated receptor gamma. Male rats were randomly assigned to control, Al-treated (10mg/kg/day), and Al + PIO-treated groups (Al+ 40mg/kg/day). After 56 days, the right mPFCs were removed. Then, the volume of mPFC and its subdivisions, volume of vessels, and total number of neurons and glia were estimated using stereological methods. The results showed 13–38 % decrease in the volume of the mPFC and its subdivisions, mainly in the infralimbic region