STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN BLOODBRAIN BARRIER ELEMENTS IN THE RAT HIPPOCAMPUS FOLLOWING PERINATAL HYPOXIA AND THE POSSIBILITY OF THEIR PHARMACOLOGICAL CORRECTION

Objective - to study the dynamics of structural changes in the elements of the hippocampal blood-brain barrier in the early postnatal period and during subsequent ontogenesis after the exposure to perinatal hypoxia, and to examine the possibility of pharmacological correction of these changes. Material and methods. The study was performed on laboratory Wistar rats on the model of encephalopathy of premature human infants using the method of electron microscopy. Results. After the exposure to perinatal hypoxia, structural disturbances in the capillary wall were detected which included the increase of endotheliocyte size and cytoplasmic process number, the change in capillary luminal diameter, and the delay in the formation of the basal membrane. The significant endothelioprotective effect of the saliphene preparation was demonstrated at all time intervals investigated. It was shown that saliphene reduced the intensity of reactions of the hippocampal blood-brain barrier elements to the damaging effect of perinatal hypoxia. Conclusions. Perinatal hypoxia has a significant damaging effect on all the elements of the hippocampal blood-brain barrier, resulting in disorders which were found both at the early stages of postnatal development, and in animals that have reached sexual maturity. The use of saliphene immediately after the exposure to perinatal hypoxia reversed many structural disorders of endotheliocytes and the basal membrane already in the juvenile period. The study performed suggests the application of saliphene in ischemic brain injuries of newborns as promising and will be continued by a series of further preclinical studies.

hippocampus, perinatal hypoxia, blood-brain barrier, saliphene