CYTOPROTECTION BY DEPRENYL AND TOLCAPONE IN A CELL-CULTURE MODEL OF CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA

Foetal rat brain aggregation cultures were exposed to a single episode of anoxia and hypoglycaemia for 30 min. Lactate dehydrogenase specifi c activity was estimated in the culture medium after ischaemia as a ma rker of lost cell integrity. Release of lactate dehydrogenase was most prominent during the first 24 hr period after the ischaemic damage, t hen it gradually declined. Immediately after ischaemic exposure, the c ultures were treated with different concentrations of L-deprenyl or to lcapone. Significantly lower amounts of lactate dehydrogenase leaked i nto the culture medium during the first 24 hr after the ischaemic epis ode in cultures treated with deprenyl or tolcapone (1-100 nM). These r esults suggest that deprenyl and tolcapone may reduce cell damage afte r ischaemia, at doses causing enzyme inhibition.