Combined effect of hypothermia and caspase-2 gene deficiency on neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

• Intoduction:Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) injury in term infants develops with a delay during the recovery phase, opening up a therapeutic window after the insult. Hypothermia is currently an established neuroprotective treatment in newborns with neonatal encephalopathy (NE), saving one in nine infants from developing neurological deficits. Caspase-2 is an initiator caspase, a key enzyme in the route to destruction and, therefore, theoretically a potential target for a pharmaceutical strategy to prevent HI brain damage.Methods:The aim of this study was to explore the neuroprotective efficacy of hypothermia in combination with caspase-2 gene deficiency using the neonatal Rice-Vannucci model of HI injury in mice.Results:HI brain injury was moderately reduced in caspase-2(-/-) mice as compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Five hours of hypothermia (33°C ) vs. normothermia (36°C) directly after HI provided additive protection overall (temperature P = 0.0004, caspase-2 genotype P = 0.0029), in the hippocampus and thalamus, but not in other gray matter regions or white matter. Delayed hypothermia initiated 2h after HI in combination with caspase-2 gene deficiency reduced injury in the hippocampus, but not in other brain areas.Discussion:In conclusion, caspase-2 gene deficiency combined with hypothermia provided enhanced neuroprotection as compared with hypothermia alone.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Reproduktionsmedicin och gynekologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine (hsv//eng)

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