Abstract
Cooling is a potential treatment for several neurological diseases. We have examined rodent and cat neocortex, cooled to 5 and 3 degrees C, respectively, to identify a lower limit for safely cooling brain. Rat neocortex, intermittently cooled with a thermoelectric device for 2 h, showed no signs of neuronal injury after cresyl violet or TUNEL staining. Neurons were also preserved in cat cortex cooled for up to 2 h daily for 10 months. Cooled rat and cat cortex showed glial proliferation, but this was also observed in sham-operated rat cortex. When hippocampal slices from mice expressing the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in neurons were cooled to 5 degrees C, but not higher temperatures, we saw reversible dendritic beading and spine loss after 15-30 min. While there may be biochemical and functional alterations in brain cooled as low as 5 degrees C, the neuropathological consequences of brain cooling appear to be insignificant.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Biomarkers / metabolism
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Body Temperature / physiology*
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Cats
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Cold Temperature / adverse effects*
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Dendritic Spines / metabolism
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Dendritic Spines / pathology
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Disease Models, Animal
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Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / metabolism
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Gliosis / etiology
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Gliosis / pathology
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Gliosis / physiopathology
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Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
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Hippocampus / metabolism
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Hippocampus / pathology*
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Hippocampus / physiopathology
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Hypothermia, Induced / adverse effects*
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Hypothermia, Induced / standards
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In Situ Nick-End Labeling
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Male
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Mice
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Mice, Transgenic
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Neocortex / metabolism
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Neocortex / pathology*
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Neocortex / physiopathology
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Nerve Degeneration / etiology
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Nerve Degeneration / pathology*
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Nerve Degeneration / physiopathology
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Rats
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Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Substances
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Biomarkers
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Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
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Green Fluorescent Proteins