Some hormone, cytokine and chemokine levels that change across lifespan vary by cognitive status in male Fischer 344 rats

Abstract We trained and tested young (6–8 months; n  = 13), middle-aged (12–14 months; n  = 41), and aged (22–24 months; n  = 24) male Fischer 344 rats in a rapid acquisition water maze task and then quantified 27 stress hormones, cytokines and chemokines in their serum, hippocampi and frontal cortices using bead assay kits and xMAP technology. Middle-aged and aged rats learned the location of the hidden platform over training trials more slowly than their young counterparts. After training, young rats outperformed middle-aged and aged rats on both immediate and 24 h retention probe trials and about half of the middle-aged and aged (aging) rats exhibited impaired performances when tested on the retention probe trial 24 h later. The concentrations of many serum, hippocampal and cortical analytes changed with age often in networks that may represent age-sensitive signaling pathways and the concentrations of some of these analytes correlated with water maze learning and/or memory scores. Serum GRO/KC and RANTES levels, hippocampal GM-CSF levels and cortical IL-9 and RANTES levels were significantly higher in rats categorized as memory-impaired versus elite agers based upon their 24 h probe trial performances. Our data add to the emerging picture of how age-related changes in immune and neuroimmune system signaling impacts cognition.