Abstract:

Several studies have demonstrated that mild hypothermia exhibits a neuroprotective role and it can inhibit endothelial cell apoptosis following ischemia/reperfusion injury by decreasing casp-ase-3 expression. It is hypothesized that mild hypothermia exhibits neuroprotective effects on neurons exposed to ischemia/reperfusion condition produced by oxygen-glucose deprivation. Mild hypothermia significantly reduced the number of apoptotic neurons, decreased the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and increased mitochondrial membrane potential, with the peak of anti-apoptotic effect appearing between 6 and 12 hours after the injury. These findings indicate that mild hypothermia inhibits neuronal apoptosis following ischemia/reperfusion injury by protecting the mitochondria and that the effective time window is 6–12 hours after ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Key words: nerve regeneration, mild hypothermia, oxygen-glucose deprivation, cell apoptosis, neurons, mitochondrial membrane potential, Bax, ischemia/reperfusion, neural regeneration