Neuroprotective efficacy of selective brain hypothermia induced by a novel external cooling device on permanent cerebral ischemia in rats.
OBJECTIVE
This study was aimed at examining whether hypothermia is neuroprotective against permanent cerebral ischemia in rats.


METHODS
A total of 32 male Sprague--Dawley rats were subjected to a middle cerebral artery occlusion. In the hypothermic group, rats (n=10) underwent selective brain hypothermia for 5 hours with the use of a novel surface coil with coolant circulating inside. In the control (n=13) and sham groups (n=9), the rats were maintained at normothermia. After a period of 168 hours ischemia, animals were killed to measure the infarction volume of the brain stained with hematoxylin-eosin.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in physiological parameters except for the temperature. The present style of hypothermia significantly reduced infarction volume in the cortex and caudoputamen.


CONCLUSIONS
The present results endorse the neuroprotective effect of our method of hypothermia in permanent focal cerebral ischemia at an endpoint of 1 week under the following two conditions: (1) reduction of muscle and caudoputamen temperature to 29 and 31 degrees C, respectively; (2) maintenance of the mean arterial blood pressure above 90 mmHg during hypothermia.
Taniguchi
Tamiki
T
Department of Neurosurgery, Saitama Medical Center/School, 1981 Kamoda, Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan. taniguti@saitama-med.ac.jp
Morikawa
Eiharu
E
Mori
Takashi
T
Matsui
Toru
T
D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors