An Analysis of Regional Microvascular Loss and Recovery following Two Grades of Fluid Percussion Trauma: A Role for Hypoxia-Inducible Factors in Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Secondary hypoxic/ischemic injuries, stemming from reductions in cerebral blood flow are important contributing factors in progressive neuronal dysfunction after brain trauma. A greater preclinical understanding of how brain trauma leads to secondary hypoxia/ischemia is necessary in the development of posttraumatic brain injury (TBI) therapeutics. To this end, we examined the density of microvascular coverage in the injured and contralateral cortical hemispheres using two intensities of fluid percussion trauma in rats. A silicone microangiography technique showed a significant loss in microvascular density in 2 atmosphere (atm) (16.9±3.8%) and 3 atm (15.7±1.3%) injured animals relative to sham animals (29.9±2.5%; P