title: Lack of sex-linked differences in cerebral edema and aquaporin-4 expression after experimental stroke.
abstract: Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) has been shown to be important in the evolution of stroke-associated cerebral edema. However, the role of AQP4 in stroke-associated cerebral edema as it pertains to sex has not been previously studied. The perivascular pool of AQP4 is important in the influx and efflux of water during focal cerebral ischemia. We used mice with targeted disruption of the gene encoding alpha-syntrophin (alpha-Syn(-/-)) that lack the perivascular AQP4 pool but retain the endothelial pool of this protein. Infarct volume at 72 h after transient focal ischemia (90 mins) in isoflurane-anesthetized mice was attenuated in both sexes with alpha-Syn deletion as compared with their wild-type (WT) counterparts. There were no sex differences in hemispheric water content in WT and alpha-Syn(-/-) mice or regional AQP4 expression in WT mice. In neither sex did alpha-Syn deletion lead to alterations in end-ischemic regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). These data suggest that after experimental stroke: (1) there is no difference in stroke-associated cerebral edema based on sex, (2) AQP4 does not involve in sex-based differences in stroke volume, and (3) perivascular pool of AQP4 has no significant role in end-ischemic rCBF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Peri-Operative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239-3098, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wenri
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Nabil J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Alkayed
authors.forename: Stanley C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Froehner
authors.forename: Marvin E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Mahmood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amiry-Moghaddam
authors.forename: Ole Petter
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Ottersen
authors.forename: Patricia D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Hurn
authors.forename: Anish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D049029:Dystrophin-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012737:Sex Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: C496031:Aqp4 protein, mouse; D051401:Aquaporin 4; D049029:Dystrophin-Associated Proteins; C091824:syntrophin