ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Post cardiac arrest (CA) syndrome is associated with a low survival rate in patients who initially have return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after CA. The aim of this study was to examine the histopathology and inflammatory response in the heart during the post CA syndrome. METHODS: We induced asphyxial CA in male Sprague-Dawley rats and determined the survival rate of these rats during the post resuscitation phase. RESULTS: Survival of the rats decreased after CA: 66.7% at 6 hours, 36.7% at 1 day, and 6.7% at 2 days after ROSC following CA. The rats were sacrificed at 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, and 2 days after ROSC, and their heart tissues were examined. Histopathological scores increased at 12 hours post CA and afterwards, histopathological changes were not significant. In addition, levels of tumor necrosis factor-α immunoreactivity gradually increased after CA. CONCLUSION: The survival rate of rats 2 days post CA was very low, even though histopathological and inflammatory changes in the heart were not pronounced in the early stage following CA.
ABSTRACT
Lacosamide, which is a novel antiepileptic drug, has been reported to exert various additional therapeutic effects. The present study investigated the neuroprotective effects of lacosamide against transient cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal cell damage in the hippocampal cornu ammonis (CA)-1 region of a gerbil model. Neuronal Nuclei immunohistochemistry demonstrated that pre- and post-surgical treatment (5 min ischemia) with 25 mg/kg lacosamide protected CA1 pyramidal neurons in the lacosamide-treated-ischemia-operated group from ischemic injury 5 days post-ischemia, as compared with gerbils in the vehicle-treated-ischemia-operated group. Furthermore, treatment with 25 mg/kg lacosamide markedly attenuated the activation of astrocytes and microglia in the ischemic CA1 region at 5 days post-ischemia. The results of the present study suggested that pre- and post-surgical treatment of the gerbils with lacosamide was able to protect against transient cerebral ischemic injury-induced CA1 pyramidal neuronal cell death in the hippocampus. In addition, the neuroprotective effects of lacosamide may be associated with decreased activation of glial cells in the ischemic CA1 region.
ABSTRACT
Expression of cFos in the spinal cord following nociceptive stimulation is considered to be a neurotoxic biomarker. In the present study, the immunoreactivity of cFos in the spinal cord was compared between young adult (23 years in dogs and 6 months in mice) and aged (1012 years in dogs and 24 months in mice) Beagle dogs and C57BL/6J mice. In addition, changes to neuronal distribution and damage to the spinal cord were also investigated. There were no significant differences in neuronal loss or degeneration of the spinal neurons observed in either the aged dogs or mice. Weak cFos immunoreactivity was observed in the spinal neurons of the young adult animals; however, cFos immunoreactivity was markedly increased in the nuclei of spinal neurons in the aged dogs and mice, as compared with that of the young adults. In conclusion, cFos immunoreactivity was significantly increased without any accompanying neuronal loss in the aged spinal cord of mice and dogs, as compared with the spinal cords of the young adult animals.