Histological violations in the rats hippocampus and parietal cortex at the total cerebral ischemia

Abstract

Objective. To analyze the changes in the size and shape of perikaryons and the degree of cytoplasm chromatophilia of the rat hippocampal and parietal cortex neurons at different periods after the modeling of total cerebral ischemia. Material and Methods. The experiments were performed on 42 male outbred white rats with an initial weight of 240 ± 20 g. Total cerebral ischemia in white outbred rats was modeled by decapitation. The material for further histological examination was taken at the 1st, 5th, 15th, 30th and 60th minutes, as well as 5 and 24 hours after decapitation. The study of histological preparations was carried out using an Axioscop 2 plus microscope, a digital video camera and the ImageWarp image analysis program. Among the total number, the cells were isolated by the intensity of cytoplasm staining (chromatophilia). After a preliminary check for the normal distribution of indicators, the data obtained were analyzed by non-parametric statistics. Results. With total cerebral ischemia, a decrease in the size of neurons and deformation of perikaryons were observed. Normochromic neurons completely disappeared at the 60th minute. The number of hyperchromic neurons increased, and then progressively decreased. Shrunken neurons made up the majority of cells in the studied cortical sections at the 30–60th minutes, and then, after 5 and 24 hours, cells with pericellular edema prevailed in the neuron population. Conclusion. The obtained data on histological changes in neurons of phylogenetically different parts of the cerebral cortex in the dynamics of total cerebral ischemia provide the basis for further detailed study of post-mortem changes of the brain as well as determining the time of death, thus creating a fundamental basis for studying the properties of neurons, including their transition from one functional state to another.