title: Mild hypothermia mitigates post-ischemic neuronal death following focal cerebral ischemia in rat brain: immunohistochemical study of Fas, caspase-3 and TUNEL.
abstract: Mild hypothermia is considered to have a protective effect during ischemic neuronal cell death. The present study provides experimental evidence for this beneficial role of mild hypothermia using reversible middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in a Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat model. MCAo was induced in rats for 1 h followed by reperfusion at different periods. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining in normothermic (NT) 37 degrees C and hypothermic (HT) 33 degrees C groups of rats confirmed cerebral infarcts. The mean per cent infarct area was significantly reduced in the HT group of rats. Immunohistochemical analysis was done using anti-Fas and caspase-3 antibodies. The immunohistochemical expression of Fas and caspase-3 was demonstrable as early as 5 h after reperfusion, but the expression pattern maximized at 24 h after reperfusion. The expression of Fas and caspase-3 proteins showed a clear decrease in the HT group over the NT group. In situ detection of DNA fragmentation was done using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling method (TUNEL). TUNEL-positive cells were first observed at 5h after reperfusion and progressively increased by 24h. A higher number of TUNEL-positive cells was found in the NT group, but they were significantly decreased in the HT group. Further, DNA fragmentation was confirmed by size fractionation in agarose gel. These findings demonstrate a positive relation between the expression of Fas, caspase-3 and TUNEL-positive cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Research Institute for Brain and Blood Vessels, Akita, Japan.
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Phanithi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yasui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019014:fas Receptor; C505410:Casp3 protein, rat; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases