Effectiveness of GK-2, a Nerve Growth Factor Mimetic, in Preventing Post-Resuscitation Changes in the Brain.

Neurological status was assessed and the numbers of neurons per 1 mm in pyramidal neuronal layer length in CA1 and CA4 hippocampal fields and cerebellar Purkinje cells were evaluated in albino male rats on post-resuscitation day 14 after 12-min cardiac arrest. Intraperitoneal administration of GK-2 (1 mg/kg 30 min after resuscitation and within the next 3 days with an interval of 24 h) accelerated neurological recovery of the animals, sharply reduced the intensity of cerebellar Purkinje cell death, and prevented loss of pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus. These results show the effectiveness of systemic administration of the nerve growth factor mimetic GK-2 in improving structural and functional state of the brain in the post-resuscitation period. This opens new prospects of its use for prevention and correction of post-hypoxic encephalopathy.

[Action of neuropeptides on the status of neuronal populations in the post-resuscitation period: structural-functional correlation]. / Deistvie neiropeptidov na sostoianie neironal'nykh populiatsii v postreanimatsionnom periode: strukturno-funktsional'nye korreliatsii.

Effects of some neuropeptides and hormones (oxytocin, melanostatin, oxytocin in combination with estradiol, somatostatin) on neurons of the V cortical layer, Purkinje cells of medial and lateral regions of rat cerebellum were studied in rats after 15 minutes of cardiac arrest. A single administration of the peptides after successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation improved the condition of neuronal populations (prevented dystrophy and cell death), accelerated neurological recovery. One of the mechanisms of action of oxytocin, melanostatin and oxytocin in combination with estradiol is elevated number of satellite glial elements of the nervous tissue. Responses of varying neuronal populations to neuropeptide action are different. These data are essential for design of pathogenetic methods of prevention and treatment of posthypoxic encephalopathies.

[The effect of succinic acid on postresuscitation pathology of the CNS and of the body as a whole]. / Vliianie iantarnoi kisloty na postreanimatsionnuiu patologiiu TsNS i organizma v tselom.

The effect of oral succinic acid was studied in rats exposed to 10-min heart arrest followed by resuscitation. The drug was administered for 5 days in a dose of 30 mg/kg starting from day 3 up to day 7 after resuscitation. Succinic acid was found to normalize the orientation and exploration behavior of rats in the "open field" test, decreased the intensity of response to stress (electric shock), and normalized the radical formation in the brain tissue and blood serum, thus reducing the morphological changes in the brain. In addition, succinic acid prevented the development of risk factors of atherogenesis, namely, increase of the levels of blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and low and very low density lipoproteins. Further studies are needed to validate the addition of succinic acid to the armory of drugs preventing the development of postresuscitation encephalopathies in remote (3 months) periods.