Gerbil

Abstract: Free radical-mediated oxidative damage has been implicated in tissue injury resulting from ischemia/reperfusion events. Global cortical ischemia/reperfusion injury to Mongolian gerbil brains was produced by transient occlusion of both common carotid arteries. Protein oxidation, as measured by protein carbonyl content, increased significantly during the reperfusion phase that followed 10 min of ischemia. The activity of glutamine synthetase, an enzyme known to be inactivated by metal-catalyzed oxidation reactions, decreased to 65% of control levels after 2 hr of reperfusion that followed 10 min of ischemia. We also report that the free radical spin trap N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone [300 mg/kg (body weight)] administered 60 min before ischemia/reperfusion is initiated, partially prevents protein oxidation and protects from loss of glutamine synthetase activity. In addition, we report a N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone-dependent nitroxide radical obtained in the lipid fraction of the ischemia/reperfusion-lesioned brains, but there was very little radical present in the comparable sham-operated control brains. These data strengthen the previous observation utilizing in vivo-trapping methods, that free radical flux is increased during the reperfusion phase of the ischemia-lesioned gerbil brain. The loss of glutamine synthetase would be expected to increase the levels of brain L-glutamate. Thus, the oxidative inactivation of glutamine synthetase may be a critical factor in the neurotoxicity produced after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Abstract: Brief ischemia induced tolerance to subsequent ischemia in the hippocampal neurons. Male Mongolian gerbils were subjected to 2 min of ischemia in an awake condition. This ischemic insult only rarel...

Abstract: Iron mediates damage to proteins and DNA. The mechanisms of damage not only involve iron but also oxygen free radical intermediates. Oxidative damage to DNA causes not only strand breaks, but also formation of specific base adducts, such as 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine. Oxidative damage also inactivates certain enzymes such as glutamine synthetase. Novel methods of assessing oxidative damage to tissue, including quantitation of salicylate hydroxylation as an index of hydroxyl free radical flux as well as specific lesions to proteins and DNA, have yielded results that clearly show that ischemia/reperfusion injury to mongolian gerbil brain involves oxidatively damaging events. Aging in gerbil as well as human brain is also associated with increased oxidative damage. Recent novel observations have shown that the spin-trapping agent phenyl alpha-tert-butylnitrone (PBN) offers protection in gerbil brain during ischemia/reperfusion injury. We also show that oxidative damage to brain during aging is decreased by chronic administration of PBN. The mechanism of action of PBN may be related to its trapping of specific free radicals, which triggers a cascade of oxidative events that eventually lead to tissue injury.

Abstract: Induction of the 70-kDa heat shock protein, hsp70, has been demonstrated in brain following experimental stroke. In the present study, hsp70 was localized in gerbil brain at intervals after transient ischemia using a monoclonal antibody specific for stress-inducible forms of hsp70-related proteins. Induced immunoreactivity was found only in neurons, primarily in hippocampus, striatum, entorhinal cortex and some neocortical regions. Notably hsp70 accumulation was minimal in hippocampal CA1 neurons which die after brief ischemic episodes, but was most pronounced in dentate granule cells and CA3 neurons which are spared. The peak of CA3 immunoreactivity occurred at 48-h recirculation, at the onset of CA1 neuron loss at 2–4 days, demonstrating that hsp70 induction is also a component of this delayed hippocampal pathophysiology rather than a direct response to the metabolic disruption of the initial ischemic episode. These results suggest that hsp70 immunocytochemistry may serve as a marker for neuronal circuitry involved in proposed excitotoxic mechanisms after ischemia and other stresses. Control animals showed immunoreactivity in ependymal cells lining the ventricles, indicating a role for hsp70 in normal functioning of these specialized cells.