Comparative Study of the Intensity of Nitric Oxide Production and Copper Content in Hippocampus of Rats After Modeling of Hemorrhagic Stroke and Brain Injury

A comparative experimental analysis of intensity of nitric oxide (NO) production and the copper content in the tissues of hippocampus of male Wistar rats after modeling of hemorrhagic stroke and brain injury was conducted using EPR spectroscopy. Modeling of hemorrhagic stroke was carried out by microinjection of 500 nl of autologous blood into the brain to a depth of 5.0 mm (hippocampus) on the left side. Brain injury was performed by removing a piece of nerve tissue from 5.0 mm depth on the left side of hippocampus. It was registered a significant decrease in the NO content in hippocampus by 36 +/- 17% on the 3rd day after modeling of hemorrhagic stroke together with decrease by an average of 24 +/- 14% of the copper content. There were no significant changes in the NO level in hippocampus found neither on the 3rd day nor on the 7th day after brain injury modeling. There was also no change in copper content. Thus, it was experimentally demonstrated that modeling of brain injury, in contrast to hypoxia induced by hemorrhagic stroke, was not accompanied with significant changes in NO production in hippocampus of rat.