Histological evidence for neuroprotective action of nebracetam on ischemic neuronal injury in the hippocampus of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

Quantitative analysis of delayed neuronal death in the hippocampal subfields of SHRSP and SHR

Transient forebrain ischemia and reperfusion induces delayed neuronal death (DND) in the hippocampal Cornu Ammonis 1 (CA1) subfield of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHRSP). The vulnerability to DND is potentially related to the genetic susceptibility to stroke in this strain. To elucidate the mechanism of DND in SHRSP, however, it is essential to establish a method for quantitative evaluation of DND, which is not available yet. Male SHRSPs and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) at 12 weeks of age were used in the experiment. The bilateral common carotid arteries were surgically occluded with aneurysmal clips for 10 min. The brain was taken out 7 days after the experiment of the transient ischemia, and was sliced into serial coronal sections. Quantitative estimation of the number of viable pyramidal cells in the CA1 and CA2/3 subfields was performed based on the stereology with a random and systematic sampling. The transient ischemia and reperfusion (TIR) significantly reduced the number of viable pyramidal cells in CA1 of SHRSP (61000 +/- 20100 in TIR vs. 128500 +/- 21900 in the sham-operation, P < 0.000001 by Student's t-test), while no significant difference was observed in SHR (140300 +/- 30800 in TIR vs. 128200 +/- 16700 in the sham-operation, P = 0.35). Further analysis revealed a dorsal-ventral gradient in the distribution of DND in CA1 of SHRSP with the most severe change in the dorsal area. The quantitative measurement using a stereological method is useful in the precise evaluation of DND in SHRSP. This method can be applied in the studies of effects of medical treatments on the 'ischemia/reperfusion' insult.

Neuroprotective effect of TTC-909, an isocarbacyclin methyl ester incorporated in lipid microspheres, on hippocampal delayed neuronal death of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats

TTC-909 is a newly developed isocarbacyclin methyl ester (TEI-9090) incorporated in lipid microspheres. The neuroprotective effect of TTC-909 was histologically examined in the pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampus CA1 subfield 7 days after transient forebrain ischemia using stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. TTC-909, given intravenously 10 min after the transient forebrain ischemia, dose-dependently protected against ischemia-related delayed neuronal death. The blood pressure remained unchanged following TTC-909 administration. This finding suggests that TTC-909 has a neuroprotective action on ischemic delayed neuronal death in the hippocampus.