EFFECT OF HYPERGLYCEMIA ON NEURONAL CHANGES IN A RABBIT MODEL OF FOCAL CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA

In clinical medicine, cerebral Ischemia is frequently due to a focal, rather than global, insult The effect of hyperglycemia in focal cerebral ischemia is not well defined. We studied the effect of hyperglycemia on neuropathologic changes in a rabbit model of focal cerebral ischemia. Rabbits were randomized to receive saline (n = 12) or glucose (n = 12) infusions. The left anterior cerebral and left internal carotid arteries were clipped after the infusion began. After 6 hours of occlusion, the area of severe ischemic neuronal damage in the left neocortex and striatum on two standard sections of brain was calculated and expressed as a percentage of the total area of the left cortex or striatum. The mean±SEM cortical area of severe ischemic neuronal damage was 22.1 ±2.8% in the glucose-treated rabbits and 34.0±4.6% in the saline-treated rabbits (p<0.05). The cortical area of severe ischemic neuronal damage was inversely correlated with plasma glucose concentration at the time of arterial clipping (p<0.05). We conclude that hyperglycemia is associated with decreased histologic neuronal injury in this model of focal cerebral ischemia and may be protective when cerebral ischemia occurs from a focal insult. © 1990 American Heart Association, Inc.