There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Anoxia produces deleterious effects on synaptic transmission in the hippocampal slice
preparation. A proposed source of damage is the superoxide radical (.O2-) produced
during the earlier period of reoxygenation. The present study tested the effects of
a synthetic, catalytic superoxide radical scavenger (EUK-8) on CA1 pyramidal cell
responses elicited by electrical stimulation of the Schaffer-commissural pathway after
severe anoxic episodes. Following reoxygenation, slices incubated with EUK-8 (50 microM)
exhibited significantly better recovery of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs)
than control slices. In addition, repeated episodes of anoxia produced irreversible
loss of synaptic transmission in the majority of control slices (93 +/- 7%, n = 15),
compared to a small fraction in EUK-8-incubated slices (27 +/- 12%, n = 15). A thiobarbituric
acid (TBA) test was used to assess the effect of EUK-8 on lipid peroxidation elicited
in hippocampal slices by acidosis and lactic acid (pH 5.0 and 30 mM lactic acid).
Incubation in the presence of EUK-8 totally prevented the increase in lipid peroxidation
produced by acidosis and lactic acid in both the incubation medium and the slice homogenates.
These results indicate that a superoxide scavenger like EUK-8 prevents damage produced
by acidosis and anoxia in hippocampal slices and suggest the possibility of using
this type of molecule under various pathological conditions.