The pathways by which mild hypothermia inhibits neuronal apoptosis following ischemia/reperfusion injur y

摘要

Several studies have demonstrated that mild hypothermia exhibits a neuroprotective role and it can inhibit endothelial cell apoptosis following ischemia/reperfusion injury by decreasing casp-ase-3 expression. It is hypothesized that mild hypothermia exhibits neuroprotective effects on neurons exposed to ischemia/reperfusion condition produced by oxygen-glucose deprivation. Mild hypothermia signiifcantly reduced the number of apoptotic neurons, decreased the expres-sion of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and increased mitochondrial membrane potential, with the peak of anti-apoptotic effect appearing between 6 and 12 hours after the injury. These ifndings indicate that mild hypothermia inhibits neuronal apoptosis following ischemia/reperfusion injury by protecting the mitochondria and that the effective time window is 6–12 hours after ischemia/reperfusion injury.