Korean J Anat.  2001 Apr;34(2):113-122.

Effects of the Occlusion of Middle Cerebral Artery on the Pyramidal Cells of the Hippocampal Formation

• Park IS

Abstract

In order to study damages on brain cells upon occlusion and reperfusion, brain infarction was induced by insertion of a single nylon thread, through the internal carotid artery, into a middle cerebral artery. After occlusion of 1 hr and reperfusion for variable duration, brain slices were used to observe changes in the brain morphology and in the pyramidal neurons of the himppocampal formation. In this study we found following results. 1) The operation took 20~30 min and about 30% of the operated animals were suitable for studying neurological aspects. 2) The TTC stain showed that about 23.9% of the total brain area was damaged in the 72 hr-reperfusioned sample. 3) The degree of brain edema was larger in the left hemisphere (damaged side) than in the right one (contralateral undamaged side). 4) Pyramidal cells of the damaged hippocampal formation showed features of necrosis such as shrinkage, large vacuole, swelling, and cell debris. 5) The numbers of survived cells per mm2 of the hippocampal formation were 93 in the undamaged animal, and 23 and 3 in the 3 and 7 days after reperfusion, respectively.

Keyword

Occlusion of a middle cerebral artery; Pyramidal cell; Hippocampal formation; Ischemia

MeSH Terms

Animals
Brain
Brain Edema
Brain Infarction
Carotid Artery, Internal
Hippocampus*
Ischemia
Middle Cerebral Artery*
Necrosis
Neurons
Nylons
Pyramidal Cells*
Reperfusion
Vacuoles
Nylons