Correlation between Brain Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Following Cardiac Arrest in Rats

Choi,  Seung Pil; Park,  Kyu Nam; Park,  Seung Hyun; Park,  Sang Hyun; Jeong,  Si Kyoung; Kim,  Se Kyung

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 10(4); 1999 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 1999;10(4): 531-540.

Correlation between Brain Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Following Cardiac Arrest in Rats

Seung Pil Choi, Kyu Nam Park, Seung Hyun Park, Sang Hyun Park, Si Kyoung Jeong, Se Kyung Kim

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) has been thought to play a major role in neurological injury during global brain ischemia and subsequent reperfusion following resuscitation in cardiac arrest. So, we hypothesized that the elevation in TNF-alpha was dependent upon the duration of the global brain ischemia, and related to delayed neuronal damage.
METHODS:
Fourteen rats were divided two groups ; 1 minute-cardiac arrest group(n=7) and 3 minute-cardiac arrest group(n=7). we induced cardiac arrest by chest compression and damping of tracheal tube for 1 minute and 3 minutes respectively. And then, resuscitation was initiated. To measure the plasma activity of TNF-alpha, blood samples were drawn before and at the end of cardiac arrest, and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after initiation reperfusion. At 72 hours after resuscitation, the ND(neurologic deficit) score was determined and the histopathologic outcome of hippocampal CA1 neuron was observed by the percent dead hippocampal CA1 neurons.
RESULTS:
1. TNF-alpha level during the early reperfusion period(<2h) was significantly increased in 3 min-cardiac arrest group compared with 1 min-cardiac arrest group(p=0.0001). 2. There was a no significant difference of neurologic deficit score between 1 min- and 3 min-cardiac arrest. 3. Percent dead hippocampal neurons were significantly increased in 3 min-cardiac arrest group compared with 1 min-cardiac arrest group(9.1+/-1.2% vs 1.2+/-0.9%, p<0.05).
CONCLUSION:
The results suggest that longer duration of global brain ischemia causes a more profound increase in plasma TNF-alpha level during the early reperfusion period(<2h) and more delayed neuronal damage than lessor duration of global brain ischemia, and that increase in TNF-alpha level during the early reperfusion period(<2h) is related to delayed neuronal damage.