Sympathetic activity enhances glucose-related ischemic injury in the rat

Desflurane affords greater protection than halothane against focal cerebral ischaemia in the rat

BACKGROUND

We studied the potential neuroprotective effects of halothane and desflurane, compared with the awake state, on infarct size following 2 h of intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and 22 h of reperfusion.

METHODS

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anaesthetized with desflurane or halothane, intubated, and mechanically ventilated. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), blood gases, and pH were controlled. Body temperature was maintained at 37.5-38 degrees C. Animals were assigned to one of four groups according to the anaesthetic type (halothane or desflurane) and the duration of anaesthesia: "short-duration", during the preparation only; "long-duration", during both preparation and ischaemia. Twenty-four hours after MCAo, infarcts were visualized by staining with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride. Two additional groups of rats were subjected to the same protocol as that of long-duration halothane and long-duration desflurane with additional pericranial temperature measurements made.

RESULTS

Physiological parameters were comparable between the groups but MAP was higher (P<0.0001) in the short-duration groups. In the short-duration groups, cerebral infarct volumes were not significantly different between anaesthetics (short-duration halothane: 288 (61) mm(3), mean (SD); short-duration desflurane: 269 (71) mm(3), P>0.56). Compared with the awake state (short-duration groups), halothane and desflurane significantly reduced infarct volumes (long-duration halothane: 199 (54) mm(3), P<0.0047 vs short-duration halothane; long-duration desflurane: 121 (55) mm(3), P<0.0001 vs short-duration desflurane). The mean infarct volume in the long-duration desflurane group was significantly lower than that in the long-duration halothane group (P<0.0053). Pericranial temperatures were similar in the desflurane and halothane long-duration groups (P>0.17).

CONCLUSIONS

In rats, desflurane-induced neuroprotection against focal cerebral ischaemia was greater than that conferred by halothane.

Carotid artery and jugular vein ligation with and without hypoxia in the rat

A continuing concern about the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is the cannulation of the common carotid artery or the internal jugular vein. The authors investigated the changes that might occur in the brain with neck vessel ligation in the normal and the hypoxic rat. Two groups of 60 rats each were studied. The first group was divided into three subgroups of 20 animals each. Subgroup 1 (HH) was hypoxic both 24 hours before and 24 hours after operation. Subgroup 2 (HN) (the ECMO model) was hypoxic before operation and recovered for 24 hours in room air. Subgroup 3 (NN) underwent the entire procedure in room air. For each oxygen environment, four different operations were performed: carotid artery ligation, jugular vein ligation, carotid artery and jugular vein ligation, and dissection of the vessels without ligation (sham). Thus each subgroup was further divided into four sub-subgroups based on the operation performed. Rats were again anesthetized after a 24-hour recovery period and killed using low, blunt cervical dislocation. In the first group of 60 rats, the skull was opened and the brain was carefully removed from the cranial vault and placed in a fixative. The brains were placed in a small magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) head coil in groups of five and scans were obtained to provide T1 and T2 images that correlated with histological sections. MRI scans were reviewed in random, blinded fashion by an imager unaware of how these animals had been treated. The brains were then sectioned coronally at six corresponding levels: frontal, mid and posterior cerebrum, midbrain, pons, and medulla. Histological examination was performed in blinded fashion. The number of lesions (usually ischemic as noted by a decrease in the number of neurons) was totaled for each area of the brain. There were no differences that were consistent or statistically significant in the MR images of brains removed from the head, although it would appear that rats with jugular vein and carotid artery ligation were relatively protected. In the HN group jugular vein ligation was worst, and adding carotid artery ligation was best. In the histological studies the NN group had significantly more lesions than the HH group (P < .01). The second group of 60 rats was divided and treated as the first group in all respects except that MRI was conducted immediately after death on intact heads, and no histological studies were performed. This was done to control for lesions that might have been produced by removal of the brains from the skulls. In this group all findings were right sided. One animal in the HN group showed midcerebral white matter edema after jugular and carotid ligation. Focal anterior cerebral edema was seen in another animal (HH) after isolated carotid ligation. An occipital infarct was found in one animal (HH) after both carotid and jugular ligation. The authors conclude that neck vessel ligation in the hypoxic or normoxic rat causes only occasional and sporadic brain injury much as is seen clinically in newborn ECMO patients.

Astressin, a novel and potent CRF antagonist, is neuroprotective in the hippocampus when administered after a seizure

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), the principle hypothalamic regulator of the adrenocortical axis, also functions as a neurotransmitter. In this latter role, CRF causes electrophysiological activation and epileptiform activity in various brain regions. That finding, coupled with the observation that CRF mRNA is induced in endangered brain regions following necrotic insults, suggests that the peptide might contribute to necrotic neuron loss. Supporting that, a number of studies have shown that CRF antagonists decrease ischemic or excitotoxic damage to neurons. In the present report, we demonstrate the considerable neuroprotective potential of a novel and potent CRF antagonist, astressin, against kainic acid-induced excitotoxic seizures. Intracerebroventricular infusion of the peptide both 30 min before and 10 min after seizures decreased damage in some hippocampal cell fields by as much as 84%, a magnitude of protection greater than reported for other CRF antagonists against other models of necrotic neuronal injury. Administration of astressin was done against both local microinfusion (0.035 microgram) or systemic infusion (10 mg/kg body weight) of the excitotoxin; furthermore, the peptide protected even if administered only 10 min following excitotoxin exposure. This fulfills a critical prerequisite for any eventual therapeutic use of CRF antagonists, namely that they need not be administered in anticipation of a neurological insult.

Norepinephrine activation of basal cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO2) during hypothermia in rats

In an earlier study on the effect of mild hypothermia (34 degrees C) on the cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO2) in rats, we used norepinephrine (NE) to support arterial blood pressure while inducing isoelectricity on the electroencephalogram (EEG) with thiopental (TP). Even with administration of sufficient TP to reduce a fully active EEG to an isoelectric EEG, CMRO2 was often unchanged. Based on this observation, we hypothesized that NE had activated CMRO2 despite thiopental coma. Therefore, we studied the effect of NE compared with donor blood (DB) infusion to maintain arterial blood pressure during TP-induced isoelectric EEG on whole-brain CBF (H2 clearance) and CMRO2 during normothermia (38 degrees C) and mild hypothermia (34 degrees C) in rats during 70% N2O/30% O2 analgesia. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and CMRO2 were measured in four groups of rats at 38 degrees C followed by measurements at either 38 degrees C (two groups) or 34 degrees C (two groups) and during TP-induced EEG isoelectricity. Within each of the two groups at 38 degrees C and 34 degrees C, arterial pressure was sustained by either DB (n = 10) or NE (n = 9) infusion. At 38 degrees C, CMRO2 in the DB and NE groups was 7.92 +/- 1.05 and 6.4 +/- 0.80 mL x 100 g-1.min-1 and decreased to 50% of normal (3.95 +/- 0.70 and 3.32 +/- 0.40 mL x 100 g-1.min-1, respectively) during TP isoelectricity for a functional:basal CMRO2 distribution of 50% +/- 4% and 50% +/- 4%. At 34 degrees C, CMRO2 values in the DB and NE groups were 6.31 +/- 1.41 and 5.41 +/- 2.02 mL x 100 g-1.min-1, respectively. During TP-induced isoelectricity, CMRO2 values in both groups were reduced to 2.37 +/- 0.43 and 3.55 +/- 1.27 mL x 100g-1.min-1, respectively, resulting in a functional:basal CMRO2 distribution of 61%:38% in the DB group and the reverse, or 27%:73%, in the Ne group. Basal CMRO2 was significantly (P < 0.05) larger in the NE-infused rats. These results suggest that NE infusion, by increasing CMRO2 during mild hypothermia, could nullify its protective effects in the ischemic brain.

Glucose modulation of ischemic brain injury: review and clinical recommendations

Ischemic brain injury is the third-leading cause of death among Americans and the leading cause of serious disability. Based on studies of animal models, a substantial amount of experimental evidence shows that hyperglycemia at the onset of brain ischemia worsens postischemic neurologic outcome. Consistent with these observations, hyperglycemia also is associated with a worsening of postischemic brain injury in humans. In humans, however, data are often difficult to interpret because of problems in determining the timing of hyperglycemia relative to a critical ischemic event and in elucidating the effect of coexisting pathophysiologic processes (for example, a stress response) on outcome. Glucose modulation of neurologic injury is observed when ischemia is either global (for example, that accompanying cardiac arrest or severe systemic hypotension) or focal (for example, that accompanying thrombotic or embolic stroke). Toxicity is probably the result of an intracellular lactic acidosis. Specifically, the associated hydrogen ions are injurious to neurons and glia. On the basis of these factors, we recommend diligent monitoring of blood glucose concentrations in patients who are at increased risk for new-onset, ongoing, or recurring cerebral ischemia. In such patients, the use of fluid infusions, corticosteroid drugs, and insulin, as well as stress management, should be tailored to treat preexisting hyperglycemia and prevent new-onset hyperglycemia. Maintenance of normoglycemia is recommended. When one attempts to treat preexisting hyperglycemia, care should be taken to avoid rapid fluid shifts, electrolyte abnormalities, and hypoglycemia, all of which can be detrimental to the brain.

Correlation of striatal dopamine release and peripheral hypertension after transient ischemia in gerbils

PURPOSE

Intracranial norepinephrine release has been associated with post-carotid endarterectomy hypertension in human beings. To study this phenomenon under more controlled conditions, we studied the relationship of cerebral catecholamines and blood pressure in gerbils, whose cerebral circulation is similar to that in human beings.

METHODS

Twelve anesthetized gerbils underwent iliac artery blood pressure monitoring and in vivo electrochemistry catecholamine monitoring with use of catecholamine-specific electrodes placed stereotactically into the cerebral striatum. Six gerbils underwent 10 minutes of bilateral carotid artery occlusion (ischemic), whereas six underwent carotid artery dissection without occlusion (control).

RESULTS

The control group demonstrated a continuous gradual decline in blood pressure and striatal catecholamine during the 150-minute observation period. In contrast the ischemic gerbils demonstrated a sharp catecholamine rise during ischemia, a marked catecholamine drop shortly after carotid artery unclamping, and then a secondary larger catecholamine release that peaks in 60 minutes and gradually returns to baseline in 120 minutes. The blood pressure closely followed the catecholamine levels, with a sharp 20 mm Hg rise in blood pressure above baseline during carotid artery occlusion, followed by a dramatic 10 mm Hg drop below baseline after carotid artery unclamping and then a gradual rise of the blood pressure 25 mm Hg above baseline, which peaks in 80 minutes, with a gradual decline to the same blood pressure as in the control subjects 120 minutes after ischemia.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that striatal catecholamine release correlates with peripheral blood pressure during transient cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. This phenomenon may explain the mechanism of post-carotid endarterectomy hypertension in human beings, and this gerbil model can be used to study its prevention and treatment.