EFFECTS OF THE MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERY OCCLUSION/REPERFUSION ON NEURONS AND ASTROCYTES IN THE CEREBRAL CORTEX OF RATS

By using the immunohistochemical single staining method, we investigated the time course of expression of GFAP or Fos in the cerebral cortex after the middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion in rats. The immunohistochemical double-labeling for GFAP and Fos was used to investigate the relationship between GFAP and Fos expression. After 1 h occluded and 2 h reperfused, the astrocytes were activated, their cell bodies were hypertrophied, processes became thick, and were positive for GFAP. GFAP-like immunoreactivity(-LI) kept at higher level till 48 h. Activated Fos-LI neurons and astrocytes were found in cerebral cortex, and the expression of Fos showed a temporal changing pattern. The present results indicate that the astrocyte together with the neuron may involved in the change of the cerebral cortex induced by the middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion in rats.