Alteration of perineuronal nets and parvalbumin interneurons in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and correlation with blood corticosterone in activity-based anorexia model mice

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by restricted energy intake, severely underweight status, and frequent hyperactivity. Previous research has shown structural and functional alterations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus of AN patients. To investigate the pathological mechanism of AN, we analyzed the expression and distribution of parvalbumin (PV) interneurons and perineuronal nets (PNNs), which are implicated in the pathology of neuropsychiatric disorders, in the mPFC and hippocampus dorsal (HPCd) and ventral (HPCv) using an activity-based anorexia (ABA) mouse model. We found that PNN expression and density increased in the mPFC, with minor alterations in the HPCd and HPCv of ABA mice. The expression and distribution of PV neurons were unchanged in the brains of ABA mice, except for a regional decrease in PV-expressing neuron density in the HPCd. Co-localization analysis showed an increased number of PNNs enwrapping PV-negative neurons in the mPFC of ABA mice. Furthermore, the upregulation of PNN expression in the mPFC was positively correlated with elevated blood corticosterone levels, a well-known stress indicator, in ABA mice. Our findings suggest that the increased expression and distribution of PNNs surrounding PV-negative neurons in the mPFC may indicate the pathological mechanisms of AN.