• Xiang Zhou, YanLiang Qu, GuoShen Gan, ShuiBo Zhu, Yang Huang, Yong Liu, Jian Zhu, Biao Xie, and ZhiTian Tan.
• Department of Anesthesiology, General Hospital of Central Theater Command of People's Liberation Army of China, Wuhan, China.
• Neurocrit Care. 2020 Jun 1; 32 (3): 812-821.

Background And ObjectiveAttenuation of neuronal apoptosis helps maintain neurological function in patients after cardiac arrest. After ischemia-reperfusion, both cyclosporin A (CsA) and ischemic postconditioning independently protect mitochondria and thus reduce nerve injury. This study employed a rat model to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of combining ischemic postconditioning with CsA after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).MethodsRats were apportioned equally to model control, postconditioned, CsA-treated, or CsA + postconditioned groups. Asphyxial cardiac arrest was imposed using modified Utstein-style guidelines. In the appropriate groups, postconditioning was implemented by ischemia and reperfusion (clamping and loosening the left femoral artery); CsA treatment was delivered with a single intravenous dose. Neurological deficits were scored at different times after CPR. Histological evaluation and electron microscopy were used to evaluate tissue damage, and TUNEL and flow cytometry were used to measure the apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons and size of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening.ResultsThe apoptotic rate was significantly lower in the postconditioned and CsA-treated groups compared with the model control and lowest in the CsA + postconditioned group. By histological evaluation and electron microscopy, the least damage was observed in the CsA + postconditioned group. The neurological deficit score of the CsA + postconditioned group was significantly higher than that of the CsA-treated group, but the size of the mPTP openings of these two groups was comparable.ConclusionIschemic postconditioning combined with CsA exerted a better neuroprotective effect after CPR than did either postconditioning or CsA alone. Inhibiting the opening of the mPTP is not the only neuroprotective mechanism.

25 keywords...

hide…