Perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic brain damage is an important cause of
neonatal death and permanent neurological impairment.
Therapeutic hypothermia may reduce the development of brain damage after
hypoxia. Whether to use room-air or 100%
oxygen for
resuscitation of the asphyxiated neonate is still debated, and there is little knowledge about the combined effects of
therapeutic hypothermia and room air
resuscitation. We used human NT2-N neurons to test whether
oxygen level during reoxygenation would influence the protective effect of
hypothermia.
Oxygen-
glucose deprived (OGD) human NT2-N neurons were exposed to 20 min of low (1%), medium (21%) or high (95%)
oxygen concentrations immediately after
hypoxia, followed by 20.5 h of
hypothermia (33 degrees C) or normothermia (37 degrees C). Cell viability was determined by a methyltetrazolium assay (MTT), cellular energy failure by
hypoxanthine release to supernatant, and inflammatory response by the release of
IL-8 (Interleukin-8), bFGF (
basic fibroblast growth factor), IP-10 (interferon-inducible protein-10) and MCP-1 (
monocyte chemotactic protein-1) to supernatant. Post-hypoxic
hypothermia resulted in significantly higher MTT cleavage (average 27% of control (SD 11%) vs 24% (SD 12%), p=0.005).
Hypoxanthine release was increased both immediately after
hypoxia and 21 h later, however less in hypothermic (median increase 2.0 mumol/L, IQR 1.2-3.2) compared to normothermic cells (2.7 mumol/L, IQR 2.1-4.1, p<0.05). All four inflammatory markers increased after
hypoxia but not differently between normothermic and hypothermic cells.
Oxygen level had no significant effect on cell viability, inflammatory markers or energy status, irrespective of temperature level. We conclude that
hypothermia protects isolated neurons after in vitro
hypoxia, and that this protection is not affected by hyperoxic, normoxic or hypoxic reoxygenation.