PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF AVS 1,2-BIS(NICOTINAMIDO)-PROPANE, AGAINST COLD-INDUCED BRAIN EDEMA - MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY

It was hypothesized that AVS 1,2-bis(nicotinamide)-propane, a free rad ical scavenger, could potentially be useful for the treatment of brain edema, Vasogenic brain edema was produced by freezing brain regions i n 36 rats that had been treated with either AVS or saline, The efficac y of treatment was analyzed using proton magnetic resonance imaging (H -1 MRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-1 MRS) of perchl oric acid tissue extracts, T2-weighted MRI was obtained at 1 and 24 h after freezing, For H-1 MRS studies, rats were killed using liquid nit rogen and the extracted metabolites from the frozen hemispheres analyz ed. H-1 MRI showed the edema lesion that indicated a region of a high signal intensity gradually extended and increased in intensity, Suppre ssion of the edema development was observed in the AVS-treated group, Shortly after injury, the levels of acetate and lactate rapidly rose, Subsequently, the amino acid of alanine was also increased and N-acety l aspartate and glutamine were markedly depressed, In AVS-treated rats , increases of lactate and alanine, and decreases of N-acetyl aspartat e were statistically significant, We concluded that AVS is valuable fo r the treatment of vasogenic brain edema using these MR techniques. (C ) Pearson Professional Ltd 1997.