ENHANCEMENT OF IMMUNOREACTIVITY FOR NF-KAPPA-B IN HUMAN CEREBRAL INFARCTIONS

The distribution of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) was invest igated immunohistochemically in recently infarcted areas of postmortem human brain. Previously we reported that immunoreactivity for NF-kapp a B was enhanced in neurons of Alzheimer disease brain in comparison w ith control cases. In the present study, a similar enhancement of immu noreactivity was observed in glial cells of infarcted areas, but not i n the unaffected surround. Prominent staining for NF-kappa B was seen in some astrocytes, particularly in the penumbra or border zone betwee n ischemic and non-ischemic areas. In some cases, positively stained m acrophages were also observed in affected areas. Capillary staining fo r NF-kappa B was weak and did not differ significantly between affecte d and unaffected areas. These results suggest that enhanced expression of astrocytic NF-kappa B occurs in cerebral infarcted areas.