Gender Peculiarities of Postresuscitation in the Expression of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)

Purpose: to identify gender peculiarities of postresuscitation shifts in BDNF expression and neuronal death.

Materials and Methods. At different points of the postresuscitation period (days 1-, 4-, 7-, and 14), the condition of highly sensitive to hypoxia neuronal populations (pyramidal neurons of hippocampus and Purkinje cells of cerebellum) were studied in white mature female rats exposed to a 10-minute stop of systemic blood circulation (compression of vascular fascicle of the heart). Sham operated animals were used as the control. Immunohistochemical detection of BDNF-immunoreactive neurons followed with determination of optical density, number of cells with different levels of BDNF expression, and total count of neurons per 1 mm of the length of their layer was carried out. The work was done using the image analysis system (computer Intel, microscope Olympus BX-41, software ImadgeScopeM, ImageJ 1,48v, Excel 2007). Statistic processing of data was performed with the aid of Statistica 7.0 using Kolmogorov-Smirnov λ test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Student's t-test.

Results. The dynamics of postresuscitation shifts in BDNF-immunoreactivity of neuronal populations highly sensitive to hypoxia was studied in rats. Purkinje cells population in tissue slides from brain specimens harvested from female rats the alterations in BDNF expression became evident. This pattern was accompanied by the death of neurons. Those shifts in female animals were found to develop later than in male rats — by day 7 of the postresuscitation. Only BDNF-negative and BDNF-weakly positive neurons not survived postresuscitation. In the population of pyramidal cells of hippocampus in females, in contrast to males, there were no quantitative changes in BDNF molecules as revealed by immunohistochemistry and neuronal death process did not develop.

Conclusion. Gender peculiarities in the development of postresuscitation shifts in BDNF expression and associated therewith death of neurons were revealed. It was shown that after cardiac arrest of the same duration, the postresuscitation shifts in BDNF expression and neuronal death manifested mostly in males compared to females. At the same time, animals of both genders demonstrate common postresuscitation brain alterations evidencing connection between the level of BDNF expression in neurons and their resistance to ischemia-reperfusion. Gender-specific patterns of brain damage and their importance for understanding the mechanisms of post-hypoxic encephalopathies are discussed. 

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