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Measurement of regional N ‐Acetylaspartate after transient global ischemia in gerbils with and without ischemic tolerance: An index of neuronal survival
Author(s) -
Nakano Misa,
Ueda Hirokazu,
Li JiYao,
Matsumoto Masayasu,
Yanagihara Takehiko
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410440308
Subject(s) - cresyl violet , ischemia , gerbil , hippocampal formation , chemistry , medicine , brain ischemia , occlusion , endocrinology , anesthesia , pathology , staining
We investigated the correlation between N ‐acetylaspartate (NAA) level and neuronal density in the hippocampal CA1 region of the brain after occlusion of both common carotid arteries for 5 minutes and reperfusion for 3 hours to 4 weeks in gerbils with and without ischemic preconditioning (tolerance). Animals were divided into four groups—the sham operated group, the nonpreconditioning (non‐p) group, the single‐preconditioning (single‐p) group with 2‐minute ischemia once 2 days before 5‐minute ischemia, and the double‐preconditioning (double‐p) group with 2‐minute ischemia twice 2 days before 5‐minute ischemia (n = 6 for each group). The CA1 region was dissected out from freeze‐dried sections for high‐performance liquid chromatographic assay of NAA, and adjacent sections were stained with cresy1 violet for measurement of the neuronal density. Both NAA (pmol/μg dry weight) and the neuronal density (cells/mm) decreased in the non‐p group after 3 days (NAA = 24.0 ± 3.0; neuronal density = 65 ± 38 cells/mm) and 7 days (NAA = 17.9 ± 2.5; neuronal density = 20 ± 15 cells/mm) and in the single‐p group after 7 days (26.4 ± 3.0, 106 ± 30) compared with the control group (NAA = 32.9 ± 3.0; neuronal density = 203 ± 9 cells/mm). There was no decrease in the double‐p group. The NAA level and the neuronal density showed a good linear correlation. The regional NAA level may be used as an index of neuronal viability.