Investigating the Effects of Fosfomycin on Cognition, Sensory Processing, Locomotor Function and Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Healthy Rats

Abstract

Neurogenesis is primarily defined as the development of neurons, which occur in several locations of the brain including the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. This region is responsible for learning and memory, along with spatial processing and cognition. The proliferation stage of neurogenesis is the earliest stage in which the neural stem cells produced can be affected by a variety of factors, such as antibiotic toxicity. Fosfomycin (FOS) is a very reactive broad-spectrum antibiotic that works by disrupting the early stages of bacterial cell wall synthesis and is commonly prescribed for urinary tract infections. Our laboratory has previously published a study that entails a decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis upon administering the required dosage of FOS to treat induced-UTIs in Sprague-Dawley rats. In this study, we will delve in a deeper focus on the potential neurotoxic effects of Fosfomycin on proliferating neural stem cells in the absence of infection.