Cerebral microvascular damage occurs early after hypoxia-ischemia via nNOS activation in the neonatal brain.

ABSTRACT: Microvascular injury early after hypoxic ischemia (HI) may contribute to neonatal brain damage. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor overstimulation activates neuronal nitric oxide synthases (nNOS). We hypothesized that microvascular damage occurs early post-HI via nNOS activation and contributes to brain injury. Postpartum day-7 rat pups were treated with 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) or aminoguanidine (AG) before or after HI. Electron microscopy was performed to measure neuronal and endothelial cell damage. There were vascular lumen narrowing at 1 hour, pyknotic neurons at 3 hours, and extensive neuronal damage and loss of vessels at 24 hours post HI. Early after reoxygenation, there were neurons with heterochromatic chromatin and endothelial cells with enlarged nuclei occluding the lumen. There was a

SUBMITTER: Hsu YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3982088 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature