DNA-DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH APOPTOSIS IN TRANSIENT FOCAL ISCHEMIC NEOCORTEX

TRANSIENT focal ischaemia was produced in rat right neocortex by tempo rary middle cerebral artery occlusion. DNA damage was visualized in si tu in cells of this right hemisphere but not in the contralateral hemi sphere. The extracted damaged DNA exhibited laddered fragmentation whi ch is indicative of apoptotic degradation. The amount of DNA damage wa s quantified by an end-labelling technique and shown to increase with the duration of the ischaemic insult. We conclude that the neurodegene ration resulting from focal ischaemia has an apoptotic component.