Evolution of Brain Injury and Neurological Dysfunction After Cardiac Arrest in the Rat - A Multimodal and Comprehensive Model

Overview

Journal J Cereb Blood Flow Metab

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialties Cardiology & Vascular Diseases
Endocrinology
Neurology

Date 2024 May 21

PMID 38770566

Authors

Carlo Perego

Francesca Fumagalli

Francesca Motta

Marianna Cerrato

Edoardo Micotti

Davide Olivari

Daria De Giorgio

Giulia Merigo

Angelo Di Clemente

Alessandra Mandelli

Gianluigi Forloni

Luigi Cervo

Roberto Furlan

Roberto Latini

Robert W Neumar

Giuseppe Ristagno

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cardiac arrest (CA) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Due to hypoxic ischemic brain injury, CA survivors may experience variable degrees of neurological dysfunction. This study, for the first time, describes the progression of CA-induced neuropathology in the rat. CA rats displayed neurological and exploratory deficits. Brain MRI revealed cortical and striatal edema at 3 days (d), white matter (WM) damage in corpus callosum (CC), external capsule (EC), internal capsule (IC) at d7 and d14. At d3 a brain edema significantly correlated with neurological score. Parallel neuropathological studies showed neurodegeneration, reduced neuronal density in CA1 and hilus of hippocampus at d7 and d14, with cells dying at d3 in hilus. Microgliosis increased in cortex (Cx), caudate putamen (Cpu), CA1, CC, and EC up to d14. Astrogliosis increased earlier (d3 to d7) in Cx, Cpu, CC and EC compared to CA1 (d7 to d14). Plasma levels of neurofilament light (NfL) increased at d3 and remained elevated up to d14. NfL levels at d7 correlated with WM damage. The study shows the consequences up to 14d after CA in rats, introducing clinically relevant parameters such as advanced neuroimaging and blood biomarker useful to test therapeutic interventions in this model.

Citing Articles

Translational approach to assess brain injury after cardiac arrest in preclinical models: a narrative review.

Motta F, Cerrato M, De Giorgio D, Salimbeni A, Merigo G, Magliocca A Intensive Care Med Exp. 2025; 13(1):3.

PMID: 39808393 PMC: 11732829. DOI: 10.1186/s40635-024-00710-y.

Neurofilament light chain (Nf-L) in cerebrospinal fluid and serum as a potential biomarker in the differential diagnosis of neurological diseases in cattle.

Di Muro G, Tessarolo C, Cagnotti G, Favole A, Ferrini S, Ala U Vet Res. 2025; 56(1):6.

PMID: 39794836 PMC: 11724550. DOI: 10.1186/s13567-024-01441-4.

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