The Time and Effect of Hypothermia in Early Stage of the Reversible Cerebral Focal Ischemic Model of Rat

백서의 가역성 뇌허혈 모형에서 저체온의 효과와 적용시기

Objective : We studied to clarify the effective time zone of mild hypothermic neural protection during ischemia and/or reperfusion after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Methods : In a reversible cerebral infarct model which maintained reperfusion of blood flow after middle cerebral artery occlusion for two hours, the size of cerebral infarction, cerebral edema and the extent of neurological deficit were observed and analyzed for comparison between the control and the experimental groups under hypothermia($33.5^{\circ}C$). The temporalis muscle temperature was reduced to $33.5^{\circ}C$ by surface cooling for two hours during middle cerebral artery occlusion for study group I. The following groups applied hypothermia for two-hour periods after reperfusion : group II(0-2 hours), group III(2-4 hours), and group IV(4-6 hours). They were rewarmed to $36.5^{\circ}C$ until sacrified at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours after reperfusion. Control group was maintained at normothermia without hypothermia. Results : In the experimental groups with hypothermia, the average value of the size of cerebral infarction($mean{\pm}SD$) was $1.97{\pm}1.65%$, which was a remarkable reduction over that of the control, $4.93{\pm}3.79%$. In the control, a progressive increase was shown in the size of infarction from point of reperfusion to 6 hours after reperfusion without further changes in size afterward. Intra-ischemic hypothermia(group I) prevented ischemic injury but did not prevent reperfusion injury. Group II examplified the most neural protective effect in comparison to the control group and group IV(p<0.05). The cortex was more vulnerable to reperfusion injury than the subcortex. Mild hypothermia showed more neural protective effects on the cortex than subcortex. Conclusion : The most appropriate time zone for application of mild hypothermia was defined to be within four hours following reperfusion.