Evaluation of micro tip pressure transducers for the measurement of intracerebral pressure transients induced by fluid percussion

We describe the application of MIKRO TIP miniature pressure transducers (MPT) for the in vivo measurement of intracerebral stresses induced by traumatic brain injury (TBI). In order to test the linearity of these transducers pressure pulses of different amplitudes (duration approximately 10ms) were generated in a closed calibration chamber. A piezoelectric pressure transducer (PPT) served as the reference measure. A linear correlation was found within the pressure range between 0.57 and 5.09 bar (R2 = 0.998). The frequency transmission characteristics of the MPTs are comparable to the PPT. In three juvenile swines (6 weeks of age) pressures within the brain tissue were induced by fluid percussion (FP) and were measured in the anterior, middle, and posterior cranial cavity as well as in the extracranial part of the medulla oblongata. The data obtained in our experiments agree with the basic biomechanics of FP known from studies in cats and rabbits. Due to their small size, MPTs can be applied in living animals. Stereotaxic positioning of these catheters at any site of the brain and spinal cord requires only minimal surgery. Therefore, MPTs are useful in evaluating animal models of brain injury and in generating input data for computational models of head injury as well as to validate the mathematical results of such models with experimental data.

Lead reduces depolarization-induced calcium entry in cultured DRG neurons without crossing the cell membrane: fura-2 measurements

1. Cultured dorsal root ganglion of rat pups were depolarized by exposure to 50 mM K+ and the rise of [Ca2+]i was measured using fura-2 as an indicator. 2. Lead in the extracellular solution reduced the rise of [Ca2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner, with a threshold concentration of 0.25 microM. More than 80% of the calcium entry was prevented by approximately 5 microM lead. The IC50 and the Hill coefficient were 3.1 microM and 1, respectively. 3. This effect was considered to be due to a reduction of VACCCs, since applications of NMDA did not result in any rise of [Ca2+]i. 4. Since Pb2+ itself changes the fura-2 signal in a typical and characteristic manner, fura-2 is also an indicator for Pb2+. No changes in fura-2 signals were detected when lead (5 microM) was applied for several minutes in the absence of calcium, indicating that Pb2+ did not enter the cells. 5. Thus it is concluded that lead prevents calcium entry by reducing VACCCs but does not cross the cell membrane itself.

Histamine H1 receptors in C6 glial cells are coupled to calcium-dependent potassium channels via release of calcium from internal stores

We investigated the action of histamine on C6-astroglioma cells using patch clamp recording and intracellular calcium measurement. Application of 100 microM histamine hyperpolarized the resting membrane potential and increased free intracellular calcium. Membrane hyperpolarization was accompanied by a decrease in input resistance. The effect of histamine was reversible and responses persisted following repeated applications. In voltage clamp experiments histamine elicited an outward current associated with a conductance increase and a reversal potential near the Nernst potential for potassium. The action of histamine was blocked by mepyramine but not by cimetidine or thioperamide suggesting that a H1 receptor mediated the response. Quinidine and charybdotoxin, but not apamin, blocked the hyperpolarization. Buffering internal calcium with BAPTA diminished the activation of the potassium channel, suggesting a calcium-dependent K(+)-channel, which was also found to be regulated by protein kinase C and phosphatases. The increase in intracellular calcium was not dependent on external calcium or sensitive to pertussis toxin, cholera toxin, forskolin or 8-bromo-cAMP. Both the hyperpolarization and the increase in intracellular calcium were blocked by thapsigargin or the phospholipase C inhibitor U73122. These results indicate that histamine liberates calcium from internal stores by activation of phospholipase C which in turn leads to an increase of intracellular Ca2+ and thereby to the activation of a calcium-dependent potassium channel in C6 glial cells.