Activity of caspase-3 in cerebral tissue of the neonatal hypoxic ischemic rat

Objective To study the effect of hypoxia ischemia on caspase 3 activity in cerebral tissue of neonatal rats and its significance Methods Wistar rats of 7 d were divided into sham operation group and HIBD(Hypoxic ischemic brain damage) group In HIBD group, the left carotid artery of rats was ligated and animals were exposed to 8% oxygen for 2 h At 1, 12, 24, and 48 h after HIBD, both ipsilateral and contralateral cerebral tissues were homogenized and centrifugated Caspase 3 activity was measured by cleavage of the fluorescence substrate AC DEVD AMC Results Caspase 3 activity in ipsilateral cerebral tissue increased gradually after HIBD and peaked at 24 h, and then decreased significantly at 48 h Compared with that of the control, Caspase 3 activity significantly changed in the ipsilateral tissue at all time points Conclusion The obviously activated caspase 3 in neonatal cerebral tissue in HIBD groups may be the important factor leading to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy(HIE) of the newborn