Biomedical subjects

P Bonnekoh

Publications and source records attributed to P Bonnekoh.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1993

Heating of the brain to maintain normothermia during ischemia aggravates brain injury in the rat.

During brain ischemia temperature spontaneously declines. In animal experiments this decline is frequently prevented by stabilizing the temperature at the pre-ischemic level, using an external heat source. The present study examines whether this procedure influences the severity of ischemic injury. Wistar rats were submitted to 30-min four-vessel occlusion followed by 7 days recirculation. During ischemia and the 1st h of recirculation various systemic and electrophysiological variables were recorded. Seven days after the ischemia brains were perfusion-fixed for light microscopical examination. Three brain temperature profiles were compared: spontaneous decline of brain temperature during ischemia from 36 degrees to 31 degrees C (spontaneous hypothermia; n = 5); constant brain temperature of 30 degrees C induced by selective head cooling (induced hypothermia; n = 5); and constant brain temperature of 36 degrees C induced by selective head heating (normothermia; n = 5). Core temperature was maintained constant at 37 degrees C in all groups. In spontaneous hypothermia, 19% of CA1 neurons survived after 30-min ischemia. Induced hypothermia significantly increased this percentage to 69% (P < 0.05); maintenance of brain temperature at normothermia decreased neuronal survival to 1%. Normothermia also led to morphological injury outside the vulnerable regions, an increase in mortality, marked loss of body weight and a prolongation of the electroencephalographic suppression. These findings demonstrate that stabilizing brain temperature at a constant normothermic level by an external heart source introduces an aggravating pathological element that may interfere in an unpredictable way with the manifestation or treatment of ischemic injury.

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PubMed1993

Temperature effect on immunostaining of microtubule-associated protein 2 and synaptophysin after 30 minutes of forebrain ischemia in rat.

The regional distribution of the postsynaptic microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and the presynaptic marker protein synaptophysin was investigated by immunohistochemistry in brains of rats submitted to 30-min forebrain ischemia by four-vessel occlusion. The following brain temperature profiles during ischemia were compared: (1) constant brain temperature of 36 degrees C (normothermia; n = 5); (2) spontaneous temperature decline from 36 degrees to 31 degrees C (spontaneous hypothermia; n = 5) and (3) constant temperature of 30 degrees C (induced hypothermia; n = 5). Normothermia was produced by exposing the ischemic head to an external heat source, and induced hypothermia by cooling the head with liquid nitrogen vapours. Sham-operated animals were either kept at ambient temperature or exposed to the same heat source, as required for maintaining normothermia during ischemia. Seven days after sham operation or ischemia, brains were fixed by perfusion and processed for immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies against MAP2 and synaptic vesicle-specific protein (synaptophysin). Normothermic ischemia resulted in complete loss of MAP2 immunostaining in the whole hippocampus, spontaneous hypothermic ischemia in complete loss of MAP2 in CA1 sector, and induced hypothermic ischemia only in variable loss of MAP2 in CA1 sector. Post-ischemic immunostaining of synaptophysin revealed a temperature-dependent increase in stratum lacunosum-moleculare of CA1 sector, the density of which correlated inversely with MAP2 staining. Comparison with morphological alterations showed a close relationship between loss of MAP2 staining and histological injury. The post-ischemic activation of synaptophysin may reflect regenerative processes associated with synaptic remodelling and, therefore, is an indirect marker of the severity of ischemic injury.

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PubMed1993

Sulfated glycoprotein-2 mRNA in the rat brain following transient forebrain ischemia.

Expression of sulfated glycoprotein-2 (SGP-2) mRNA was studied by in situ hybridization in rat brains submitted to transient forebrain ischemia of 30 min. Induction of this multifunctional protein has been previously observed following diverse types of brain lesions, and an involvement in programmed cell death and synaptic remodelling has been proposed. Ischemia was produced by four-vessel occlusion and followed by various recirculation times ranging from 15 min to 7 days. Up to 6 h after ischemia SGP-2 mRNA did not change in any brain region. After 12 h recirculation, SGP-2 mRNA induction was observed in the stratum lacunosum moleculare of CA1 sector of hippocampus. This induction peaked at 3 days recirculation and then declined. From 24 h recirculation onward, induction also occurred in patchy areas of the cortex, and after 7 days recirculation in the ventral thalamus and in a corona around lesioned parts of the striatum. No induction occurred at any recirculation time in pyramidal neurons of hippocampus or other neuronal populations that are damaged by ischemia. The combination of in situ hybridization with GFAP immunohistochemistry revealed that SGP-2 mRNA was mainly induced in reactive actrocytes. This excludes a direct involvement in ischemic neuronal death and supports the possible participation in the post-lesional reorganization of the tissue.

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PubMed1993

Microglial reaction in the rat cerebral cortex induced by cortical spreading depression.

The response of microglial cells to cortical spreading depression (CSD) was studied in rat brain by immunocytochemistry. CSD was elicited for one hour by the topical application of 4M potassium chloride solution and the microglial reaction examined immunocytochemically after 4, 16, 24 and 72 hours. CSD was sufficient to induce a microglial reaction throughout the cortex at 24 hours. Activated microglial cells furthermore showed a striking de-novo expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens. In contrast, no microglial reaction was observed in the cortex of sham-operated animals. This microglial reaction in response to CSD was not associated with histologically detectable neuronal damage. These results support the view that microglial cells are extremely sensitive to changes of the brain microenvironment. Their activation may be related to changes of ion homeostasis in the brain which are not sufficient to trigger neuronal injury.

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PubMed1992

Barbiturate promotes post-ischemic reaggregation of polyribosomes in gerbil hippocampus.

A brief period of cerebral ischemia is followed by severe inhibition of protein synthesis which is slowly reversed in the resistant but not in the selectively vulnerable regions of the brain. Inhibition occurs at the translational level, as evidenced by the disaggregation of ribosomes into monosomes. In order to evaluate the importance of this disturbance for the evolution of ischemic injury, the effect of the neuroprotective drug, pentobarbital, on ribosomal aggregation was studied in gerbils subjected to 5 min bilateral carotid artery occlusion. Pentobarbital (50 mg/kg, i.p.) was applied shortly after the ischemia, and the aggregational state of ribosomes was investigated by electron microscopy after recirculation times ranging from 15 min to 1 day. Pentobarbital treatment did not prevent the initial post-ischemic disaggregation but promoted the subsequent reaggregation in the selectively vulnerable neurons. This suggests that post-ischemic application of barbiturates exerts its beneficial effect by reversing the post-ischemic block of ribosomal reaggregation in vulnerable regions.

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PubMed1992

T1 snapshot FLASH measurement of rat brain glioma: kinetics of the tumor-enhancing contrast agent manganese (III) tetraphenylporphine sulfonate.

The ultrafast inversion recovery snapshot FLASH technique was used to determine the kinetics of the contrast agent manganese (III) tetraphenylporphine sulfonate (MnTPPS) in experimental brain tumors in rats. In the first part of the investigation this technique was validated with the conventional inversion recovery spin-echo method by comparing in vivo T1 data of a normal rat brain. Agreement between T1 values obtained from both techniques was complete, as tested for a large number of pixels in identical coronal slices. In the second part the fast IR snapshot FLASH method was applied to study the effect of the NMR contrast agent MnTPPS on the T1 relaxation time of experimental gliomas in rat brains. T1 of normal brain tissue (1024-1035 ms), tumor (1217 ms), and edema (1199 ms) was determined with the inversion recovery version of the snapshot FLASH imaging technique. After intraperitoneal injection of MnTPPS (0.25 mmol/kg body wt) T1 decreased exponentially to 56% of control in tumor and to 62% in muscle. In normal and edematous brain tissue no significant changes in T1 were observed up to 5 h after injection of the contrast agent. Once the T1 contrast between tumor and peritumoral brain tissue had reached a saturation, the enhancement persisted for several hours to days. Therefore application of this contrast agent resulted in a sharp demarcation between glioma and peri-tumoral edema.

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PubMed1992

Time profile of calcium accumulation in hippocampus, striatum and frontoparietal cortex after transient forebrain ischemia in the gerbil.

The topical and temporal relationship between neuronal injury and calcium loading was investigated in gerbils following bilateral carotid artery occlusion for 5 or 10 min and recirculation times from 15 min to 7 days. The association of histochemically visible calcium deposits with neuronal death was assessed by combining two calcium stains, alizarin red and arsenazo III, with conventional histological techniques. Neuronal calcium accumulation was evaluated morphometrically in the striatum, the frontoparietal cortex and the CA1 and CA4 sectors of the hippocampus. After 5-min ischemia and 1-2 days of recirculation numerous calcium-containing neurons appeared in the CA4 sector but only a few were present in the CA1 sector. After 4 days of recirculation calcium accumulation was visible in the whole CA1 sector and the dorso-lateral part of striate nucleus. After 10-min ischemia calcium accumulation started in these regions, as well as in the cortex, already after 1 day. In the CA1 sector calcium accumulation followed a typical time course: on day 2 only the lateral parts were affected, while on day 4 the whole CA1 neuronal band was calcium positive. The regional distribution of histological lesions matched that of calcium loading and, furthermore, the lesions appeared after a corresponding delay in the respective regions. Morphometric evaluations of calcium staining and histological lesions in the CA1 sector revealed a high correlation, indicating that calcium accumulation and neuronal death are closely associated both topically and temporally. This suggests that disturbances of calcium homeostasis such as those measured by this histochemical technique are the consequence of and not the reason for ischemic cell death.

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PubMed1992

The microglial reaction in the rat hippocampus following global ischemia: immuno-electron microscopy.

Transient arrest of the cerebral circulation leads to neuronal cell death in selectively vulnerable regions of the central nervous system. It has recently been shown at the light microscopical level that neuronal necrosis is accompanied by a rapid microglial reaction in ischemia (Gehrmann et al. (1992) J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 12:257-269). In the present study we have examined the postischemic microglial reaction in the dorsal rat hippocampus at the ultrastructural level using immuno-electron microscopy. Global ischemia was produced by 30 min of four-vessel occlusion and the microglial reaction then studied after 8, 24 and 72 h. In sham-operated controls microglial cells were not phagocytic; they were randomly distributed throughout the neuropil and occasionally made contacts with other structures such as dendrites in CA1. Ultrastructural signs of activation were observed from 1 day postlesion onward. Reactive microglial cells were consistently seen to phagocytose degenerating neurons particularly in the CA1 stratum pyramidale and in the CA4 sector. They were sometimes interposed between two morphologically distinct types of CA1 neurons, i.e., "dark" (degenerating) and "pale" (surviving) types of neurons. Phagocytic microglial cells also became positive for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens at these locations from 1 day after ischemia onward. Furthermore, activated microglial cells were frequent along degenerating dendrites in the stratum radiatum of CA1. After survival times of up to 72 h microglial cells, but not astrocytes, were occasionally observed to undergo mitosis. In addition to their random distribution across the neuropil, microglial cells were frequently observed in a perivascular position under normal conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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PubMed1992

Immunocytochemical study of an early microglial activation in ischemia.

Transient arrest of the cerebral blood circulation results in neuronal cell death in selectively vulnerable regions of the rat brain. To elucidate further the involvement of glial cells in this pathology, we have studied the temporal and spatial distribution pattern of activated microglial cells in several regions of the ischemic rat brain. Transient global ischemia was produced in rats by 30 min of a four-vessel occlusion. Survival times were 1, 3, and 7 days after the ischemic injury. The microglial reaction was studied immunocytochemically using several monoclonal antibodies, e.g., against CR3 complement receptor and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens. Two recently produced monoclonal antibodies against rat microglial cells, designated MUC 101 and 102, were also used to identify microglial cells. Following ischemia, the microglial reaction was correlated with the development of neuronal damage. The earliest presence of activated microglial cells was observed in the dorsolateral striatum, the CA1 area, and the dentate hilus of the dorsal hippocampus. However, the microglial reaction was not confined to areas showing selective neuronal damage, but also occurred in regions that are rather resistant to ischemia, such as the CA3 area. Particularly in the frontoparietal cortex, the appearance of MHC class II-positive microglial cells provided an early indication of the subsequent distribution pattern of neuronal damage. The microglial reaction would thus seem to be an early, sensitive, and reliable marker for the occurrence of neuronal damage in ischemia.

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PubMed1992

Neuronal damage after repeated 5 minutes of ischemia in the gerbil is preceded by prolonged impairment of protein metabolism.

The effect of single or repeated episodes of cerebral ischemia on protein biosynthesis and neuronal injury was studied in halothane-anesthetized gerbils by autoradiography of [14C]leucine incorporation into brain proteins and light microscopy. For quantification of the protein synthesis rate, the steady-state precursor pool distribution space for labeled and unlabeled free leucine was determined by clamping the specific activity of [14C]leucine in plasma, and by measuring free tissue leucine in samples taken from various parts of the brain. Control values of protein synthesis were 14.6 +/- 2.2, 5.8 +/- 2.3, 14.2 +/- 3.1, and 10.0 +/- 3.8 nmol g-1 min-1 (means +/- SD) in the frontal cortex, striatum, CA1 sector, and thalamus, respectively. Following a single episode of 5 or 15 min of ischemia, protein synthesis recovered to normal in all brain regions except the CA1 sector, where it returned to only 50% of control after 6 h and to less than 20% after 3 days of recirculation. After three episodes of 5 min of ischemia spaced at 1 h intervals, protein synthesis remained severely suppressed in all brain regions after both 6 h and 3 days of recirculation. Inhibition of protein synthesis after 6 h predicted histological injury after 3 days of recirculation. In animals submitted to a single episode of 5 or 15 min of ischemia, histological damage was restricted to the CA1 sector but injury occurred throughout the brain after three episodes of 5 min of ischemia. These observations demonstrate that persisting inhibition of protein synthesis following cerebral ischemia is an early manifestation of neuronal injury. Prevention of neuronal injury requires restoration of a normal protein synthesis rate.

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PubMed1992

Laser doppler flowmetry in CA1 sector of hippocampus and cortex after transient forebrain ischemia in gerbils.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Local differences in the hemodynamic response to transient ischemia could be involved in the development of selective vulnerability. These differences were studied in vulnerable and nonvulnerable regions of the brain. METHODS: Five gerbils were subjected to 10 minutes of bilateral forebrain ischemia, and cerebral blood flow was measured continuously in the frontal cortex and CA1 sector of the hippocampus using laser Doppler flowmetry. Carotid artery pressure was recorded simultaneously with a pressure transducer. RESULTS: After induction of ischemia, blood flow in the cortex and CA1 sector decreased to 11.8% and 18.0% of the baseline value, respectively. After release of the vascular occlusion, blood flow in the cortex returned to the preischemic level at 7.5 minutes (recovery time), reached the hyperemic peak (123.8%) at 12.4 minutes (peak latency), and again decreased to the preischemic level at 27.2 minutes. In the CA1 sector, blood flow returned to the preischemic level at 2.1 minutes, reached the hyperemic peak (122.2%) at 5.7 minutes, and decreased again to the preischemic level at 21.3 minutes. In both the cortex and CA1 sector, recovery time and peak latency correlated inversely with the amount of residual blood flow during ischemia. Histologically, cortical neurons were not injured but only 14.6% of CA1 neurons survived 1 week after ischemia. CONCLUSIONS: CA1 neurons were selectively injured despite the milder percentage decrease of blood flow during ischemia and the more prompt recovery of flow after ischemia. These findings stress the importance of intrinsic rather than hemodynamic factors in the pathogenesis of selective vulnerability of CA1 neurons after transient bilateral forebrain ischemia.

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PubMed1991

Therapeutic window of halothane anesthesia for reversal of delayed neuronal injury in gerbils: relationship to postischemic motor hyperactivity.

The effect of postischemic halothane anesthesia on locomotor activity and delayed neuronal injury in the hippocampal CA1 sector was examined in gerbils subjected to 5-min forebrain ischemia. Locomotor activity was assessed for 48 h after ischemia using an animal activity monitor, and CA1 injury was evaluated by counting the number of surviving neurons following 7 days of recirculation. Sham-treated animals exhibited a slight decrease of motor activity for about 1 day after surgery. Gerbils subjected to ischemia without postischemic halothane anesthesia developed significant motor hyperactivity (18 times higher than control activity) between 1.7 h and 6.7 h of recirculation. Surviving CA1 neurons in this group amounted to only 17% of those in the control animals. Postischemic halothane anesthesia during the initial 1.7 h of recirculation abolished subsequent motor hyperactivity and protected 84% of all CA1 neurons. Postischemic halothane anesthesia during 1.7 h-3.3 h of recirculation and 3.3-5 h of recirculation did not abolish motor hyperactivity except during the period of anesthesia, and did not protect hippocampal CA1 neurons (only 24% and 10% neuronal survival, respectively). These results demonstrate that the therapeutic window of halothane anesthesia for protection of hippocampal injury precedes the phase of locomotor hyperactivity, and that the appearance of the latter predicts delayed neuronal death.

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PubMed1991

Locomotor hyperactivity and hippocampal CA1 injury after transient forebrain ischemia of gerbils.

The influence of a repeated transient forebrain ischemia on the development of post-ischemic locomotor hyperactivity was determined in the gerbil. Animals were subjected to two episodes of 5 min bilateral carotid artery occlusion in halothane anesthesia separated by one week. By using an animal activity monitor for counting spontaneous movements, the locomotor activity was assessed before and after each ischemic period. Seven days after ischemia the number of intact hippocampal CA1 neurons was counted from histological sections. Following the first 5 min ischemia a phase of locomotor hyperactivity of more than 20-fold of control was observed. One week after ischemia less than 20% of CA1 neurons had survived. Exposure of gerbils at this time to a second 5 min ischemic episode did not cause any increased locomotor activity. These findings support the assumption that post-ischemic locomotor hyperactivity is a symptom of the acutely injured but still functionally active CA1 sector of hippocampus.

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PubMed1991

Ornithine decarboxylase in reversible cerebral ischemia: an immunohistochemical study.

Anesthetized Mongolian gerbils were subjected to 5-min ischemia and 8 h of recirculation. Vibratom sections were taken for studying changes in ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) immunoreactivity using an antiserum to ODC, and tissue samples were taken for measuring ODC activity. After 5-min ischemia and 8-h recirculation ODC activity increased 11.5-, 5.9-, and 7.9-fold in the cerebral cortex, striatum and hippocampus, respectively (P less than or equal to 0.05 to 0.01). In the cortex, striatum and hippocampus of control animals immunoreactivity was low but clearly above the detection limit. The reaction was confined to neurons. After 5-min ischemia and 8-h recirculation a sharp increase in immunoreactivity was observed confined to neurons, indicating that the postischemic activation of polyamine metabolism is a neuronal response to ischemia. The immunoreactivity was markedly increased in the perinuclear cytoplasm and the dendrites. In the striatum the density of neurons exhibiting a sharp increase in immunoreactivity was more pronounced in the lateral than in the ventral part. In the hippocampus a strong reaction was present in all subfields but the CA1 subfield was particularly affected. The present study demonstrates for the first time that biosynthesis of a protein is markedly activated during the first 24 h of recirculation after 5-min cerebral ischemia of gerbils even in the vulnerable CA1 subfield, in which the overall protein synthesis is sharply reduced at the same time. Studying polyamine metabolism after ischemia may, thus, provide new information about the basic molecular mechanisms responsible for the altered gene expression after metabolic stress.

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PubMed1991

[14C]leucine incorporation into brain proteins in gerbils after transient ischemia: relationship to selective vulnerability of hippocampus.

Regional [14C]leucine incorporation into brain proteins was studied in gerbils after global ischemia for 5 min and recirculation times of 45 min to 7 days, using a combination of quantitative autoradiography and biochemical analysis. After recirculation for 45 min, incorporated radioactivity was reduced to approximately 20-40% of control values in all ischemic brain regions. Specific activity of the tracer, in contrast, was increased, a finding indicating that the reduced incorporation of radioactivity was not due to reduced tracer influx from plasma or a dilution of the tracer by increased proteolysis. After recirculation for 6 h, [14C]leucine incorporation returned to control levels in all regions except the CA1 sector of the hippocampus, where it amounted to less than 50%. After 1 day, protein synthesis in the CA1 sector returned to approximately 70% of control values, followed by a secondary decline to less than 50% after 3 days and returned to near control values after 7 days. Histological evaluations revealed selective neuronal death in the CA1 sector of the hippocampus after 3 days of recirculation. The complex time course of protein synthesis in the CA1 sector suggests a biphasic mode of injury, which may be related to similar changes of calcium homeostasis. The final return to near normal after CA1 neurons have disappeared is explained by astroglial proliferation and demonstrates that at this time protein synthesis is not a marker of neuronal viability.

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PubMed1991

Cerebral polyamine metabolism in reversible hypoglycemia of rat: relationship to energy metabolites and calcium.

Thirty minutes of insulin-induced reversible hypoglycemic coma (defined in terms of cessation of EEG activity) was produced in anesthetized rats. At the end of the hypoglycemic coma or after recovery for 3, 24, or 72 h induced by glucose infusion, the animals were reanesthetized and their brains frozen in situ. Two control groups were used: untreated controls without prior manipulations, and insulin controls, which received injections of insulin followed by glucose infusion to maintain blood glucose within the physiological range. The brains of these latter animals were frozen 3, 24, or 72 h after glucose infusion. Tissue samples from the cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and thalamus were taken to measure ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity, and putrescine and spermidine levels, as well as phosphocreatine (PCr), ATP, glucose, and lactate content. In addition, 20-microns thick coronal sections taken from the striatum and dorsal hippocampus were used for histological evaluation of cell damage and also stained for calcium. Insulin in the absence of hypoglycemia produced a significant increase in ODC activity and putrescine level but had no effect on the profiles of energy metabolites or spermidine. During hypoglycemic coma, brain PCr, ATP, glucose, and lactate levels were sharply reduced, as expected. Energy metabolites normalized after 3 h of recovery. In the striatum, significant secondary decreases in PCr and ATP contents and rises in glucose and lactate levels were observed after 24 h of recovery. ODC activity, and putrescine and spermidine levels were unchanged during hypoglycemic coma. After 3 h of recovery, ODC activity increased markedly throughout the brain, except in the striatum. After 24 h of recovery, ODC activity decreased and approached control values 2 days later. Putrescine levels increased significantly throughout the brain after reversible hypoglycemic coma, the highest values observed after 24 h of recovery (p less than or equal to 0.001, compared with controls). After 72 h of recovery, putrescine levels decreased, but still significantly exceeded control values. Reversible hypoglycemic coma did not produce significant changes in regional spermidine levels except in the striatum, where an approximately 30% increase was observed after 3 and 72 h of recovery (p less than or equal to 0.01 and p less than or equal to 0.05, respectively). Twenty-four hours after hypoglycemic coma, intense calcium staining was apparent in layer III of the cerebral cortex, the lateral striatum, and the crest of the dentate gyrus. After 72 h of recovery, the intense calcium staining included also cortical layer II, the septal nuclei, the subiculum, and the hippocampal CA1-subfield.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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PubMed1990

Selective vulnerability in the gerbil hippocampus: morphological changes after 5-min ischemia and long survival times.

The morphology of the hippocampus of Mongolian gerbils was investigated by light and electron microscopy after 5-min forebrain ischemia and survival times of up to 10 months. After 3 weeks recirculation only 5.8% of pyramidal neurons of the CA1 (cornu ammonis 1) sector had survived but the thickness of the inner and outer hippocampal layers did not change. After recirculation times of 6 and 10 months the number of surviving neurons declined no further but all layers of the CA1 subfield shrank markedly. Ultrastructurally, many but not all surviving CA1 neurons were altered. After 3 weeks both "dark" and "pale" type neurons were present, while after 6 and 10 months only the "pale" type of injury persisted. Axonal enlargements and myelin breakdown were observed at all survival times up to 10 months of recirculation. The astrocytes of CA1 sector contained numerous glial fibrils which were most pronounced after the longer recirculation times. The stratum radiatum presented intact presynaptic terminals densely packed with an abundance of clear vesicles even after survival of 10 months. Initially, morphologically damaged postsynaptic structures were still attached to these terminals but they disappeared after longer recirculation times. However, even after 10 months some intact synapses were observed involving dendrites which probably originated from surviving CA1 neurons. In CA3 sector and dentate gyrus no ultrastructural changes occurred at any survival time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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PubMed1990

Threshold of carotid artery back pressure for delayed neuronal injury in the hippocampus after bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in gerbils.

The threshold of carotid artery back pressure for the development of neuronal injury in the hippocampus was determined in gerbils following bilateral carotid artery occlusion of 5 or 10 min. Arterial back pressure was measured during ischemia at the left carotid bifurcation distal to the vascular occlusion, and neuronal injury evaluated one week after ischemia by counting the number of surviving neurons in the left hippocampal CA1 sector. With an arterial back pressure below 5 mm Hg, the mean density of surviving neurons decreased from 199 +/- 16/mm (mean +/- SD) to less than 21/mm both after 5 and 10 min ischemia (P less than 0.05). With a back pressure of between 5 and 15 mm Hg, neuronal density was 117 +/- 77/mm (not significantly different from control) after 5 min, and 24 +/- 18/mm (P less than 0.05) after 10 min ischemia. Above 15 mm Hg neither 5 nor 10 min ischemia produced significant neuronal damage. Thus, at threshold arterial back pressure, induction of neuronal injury in the hippocampus depends on the duration of ischemia, indicating progressive impairment of microcirculation with longer periods of ischemia.

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