3-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING OF NITRIC-OXIDE PRODUCTION IN THE RAT-BRAIN SUBJECTED TO ISCHEMIA-HYPOXIA

By the systemic administration of diethyldithiocarbamate and iron into the rat, nitric oxide radicals produced in the brain during ischemia- hypoxia were trapped. The right hemisphere of the brain was then remov ed and frozen with liquid nitrogen. With use of recently developed ele ctron paramagnetic resonance imaging instrumentation and techniques, t hree-dimensional imaging of the production of the nitric oxide radical s in several brains was performed. The results suggest that nitric oxi de radicals were produced and trapped in the areas that are known to h ave high nitric oxide synthase activity, such as cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and substantia nigra. In this ischemia-hypoxia model, which did not interrupt the posterior circulation, the product ion and trapping of nitric oxide in the cerebellum were similar to 30% of those in the cerebrum.