Hippocampal neuronal damage after transient forebrain ischemia in monkeys.

To investigate cerebral injury in the monkey due to transient ischemia, monkeys were each subjected to temporary occlusion of eight (bilateral common carotid, internal and external carotid, and vertebral) major arteries. After 0 (control), 5, 10, 13, 15, and 18 min occlusion, blood flow was restored. The monkeys were sacrificed by perfusion fixation 5 days after the operation, and all brain regions were then histologically examined for ischemic neuronal changes induced by the occlusion. The amplitude of EEG signals from skull and scalp became almost isoelectric within 1-6 min after the onset of occlusion. The EEG signals from the hippocampus were markedly attenuated within 1-4 min, although they did not become completely isoelectric. Blood pressure was significantly increased after 10-min ischemia. Five-min occlusion produced no ischemic neuronal changes except a slight increment of glial cells in the striatum and III, V, and VI layers of the neocortices. After 10- to 15-min occlusion, there were ischemic cell changes restricted exclusively to the CA1 subfield of the hippocampus. Eighteen-min occlusion produced more prominent ischemic neuronal damage in the CA1 subfield of the hippocampus, but ischemic neuronal damage was no longer confined to the hippocampus. These results suggest that only the CA1 subfield of the monkey hippocampus could be damaged by mild ischemic insult. We demonstrate that the limited lesion of the hippocampus, especially the CA1 subfield, after 10- to 15-min occlusion of eight arteries in the monkey, produces a model equivalent to human amnesia caused by transient ischemic insult.