The Time Course of Astrocyte Proliferation Following Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Primary and Secondary Regions to Infarct in Aged Rats
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Authors
Nanda, Rani
Issue Date
1995
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
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Abstract
The left middle cerebral artery was occluded at the level of the rhinal
fissure (LMCAO) via microcautry on the brains of 12 Long-Evan Blackhood
Rats (10-12 months in age). One female and two male experimental rats were
sacrificed 1, 3, 7, and 14 days after surgery. Then 30 µm sections were then
processed for indirect immunofluoresence microscopy of astrocytes
expressing glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The cerebral cortex at the
infarct site, thalamus and basilar pons showed a progressive increase in the
density of GFAP positive astrocytes over the survival periods. In sum, the
cerebral cortex (at the lesion site) peaked in astrocytes 3 and 7 days after
surgery while both the thalamus and basilar pons peaked at 14 days after
(LMCAO). However, the basilar pons had a higher density of astrocytes than
the thalamus. Furthermore, cortical astrocytes showed a distinct morphology
different from astrocytes in the thalamus and basilar pons.
Additionally, a macroscopic examination of the brains was performed
in order to investigate the predictability of the infarct size produced by the
microcautry technique. Two out of twelve animals sustained infarcts
confined to a single lobe, while nine animals sustained infarcts encompassing
three lobes, the infarcts of these eleven animals were confined to the cerebral
cortex. The three remaining animals sustained infarcts penetrating into
subcallosal regions.
Thus, results indicate that a detailed investigation of astrocytes, sub
populations of astrocytes, other glial cells, and their corresponding secreted
neurochemicals will help to clarify the relationships of these cells and
chemicals. Furthermore, the technique of microcautry requires refinement in
order to produce infarcts that encompass predictable brain regions. A detailed
investigation of these cells and secreted chemicals would help to design
pharmaceuticals and optimize transplantation of fetal tissue into infarcts as
effective modes of therapy.
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ix, 77 p.
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