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Blood–brain barrier preservation in the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain preparation
Author(s) -
Librizzi Laura,
Janigro Damir,
De Biasi Silvia,
de Curtis Marco
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.1223
Subject(s) - extravasation , blood–brain barrier , in vitro , perfusion , chemistry , guinea pig , isolated brain , cerebral cortex , fluorescein , fluorescein isothiocyanate , biophysics , pharmacology , central nervous system , biology , pathology , medicine , biochemistry , fluorescence , physics , quantum mechanics
The morphofunctional preservation of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) was evaluated in the isolated guinea pig brain maintained in vitro by arterial perfusion. Electron microscopy evaluation after 5 hr in vitro demonstrated that cerebral capillaries and BBB specializations in this preparation retain features compatible with structural integrity. BBB‐impermeable and ‐permeable atropine derivatives arterially perfused to antagonize carbachol‐induced fast oscillatory activity confirmed the functional preservation of the BBB in vitro. To study BBB function further, changes in extracellular K + concentration during arterial perfusion of a high‐K + solution were measured with K + ‐sensitive electrodes positioned in the cortex and, as control, at the brain venous outlet, where the solution perfused through the brain arterial system was collected. After 5 hr in vitro, the [K + ] o values measured during high‐K + perfusion in the piriform and entorhinal cortices were 5.02 ± 0.17 mM (mean ± SE) and 5.2 ± 0.21 mM, respectively (n = 6). Coperfusion of the high‐K + solution with the Na + /K + pump blocker ouabain (10 μM; n = 4) induced consistently spreading depression preceded by a rise in [K + ] o . Finally, sporadic, isolated spots of extravasation of the fluorescent marker fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)‐dextran preferentially circumscribed to deep cortical layers was observed in brains perfused with FITC‐dextran after 5 hr in vitro. The study demonstrates that the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain is viable for studying cerebrovascular interactions and BBB permeability of compounds active in the central nervous system. J. Neurosci. Res. 66:289–297, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.