Quantitative analysis of gene expressions related to inflammation in canine spastic artery after subarachnoid hemorrhage

Background and Purpose-The possible role of inflammatory reaction of the ce rebral artery in the pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm has been noted in r ecent studies. We quantitatively measured the levels of expression of genes related to inflammation in the spastic artery in a canine double-hemorrhag e model. Methods-Twenty dogs were assigned to 4 groups: group D0, control; group D2, dogs killed 2 days after cisternal injection of blood; group D7, dogs give n double cisternal injections of blood and killed 7 days after the first in jection; and group D14. Angiography was performed twice: on the first day a nd before the animals were killed. Total RNA was extracted from the basilar artery. The expressions of interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tu mor necrosis factor-alpha, E-secretin, fibronectin, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, transforming growth f actor-beta, basic fibroblast growth factor, and collagen types I, III, and IV were examined with TaqMan real-time quantitative reverse transcription-p olymerase chain reaction. Results-Prolonged arterial narrowing peaking on 7 day was observed. There w as a significant difference in vessel caliber between D0, D2, D7, and D14 g roups (P<0.0001). There were significant differences in mRNA expression in the basilar artery for IL-1<alpha>, IL-6, IL-6, ICAM-1, and collagen type I between D0, D2, D7, and D14 groups (P=0.0079, 0.0196, 0.0040, 0.0017, and <0.0001, respectively). The average level of mRNA was highest in D7 for IL- 1<alpha>, IL-6, IL-8, and ICAM-1 (17-, 16-, 131-, and 1.7-fold compared wit h those of D0, respectively) and in D14 for collagen type I (10.9-fold). Conclusions-Increased expression of genes related to inflammation in the sp astic artery suggests that inflammatory reaction of the cerebral artery is associated with sustained contraction.