Persistent tolerance to oxygen and nutrient deprivation and N-methyl-D-aspartate in cultured hippocampal slices from hibernating Arctic ground squirrel.

Hibernating Arctic ground squirrel (hAGS), Spermophilus parryii, survive profound decreases in cerebral perfusion during torpor and return to normal blood flow during intermittent rewarming periods without neurologic damage. Hibernating AGS tolerate traumatic brain injury in vivo, and acute hippocampal slices from hibernating animals tolerate oxygen and glucose deprivation. It remains unclear, however, if neuroprotection results from intrinsic tissue properties or from differences in response to acute trauma associated with slice preparation. The goal of this work was therefore to determine whether an intrinsic tissue tolerance persists in chronic culture of AGS hippocampal slices at 37 degrees C. A second goal was to address N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor involvement and channel arrest as potential mechanisms of intrinsic tissue tolerance. Baseline neuronal survival and tolerance to oxygen and nutrient deprivation (OND), an in vitro model of ischemia-reperfusion, were assessed in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices from juvenile, hAGS and interbout euthermic AGS (ibeAGS). Early in culture (insult onset at 3 h), slices from both hAGS and ibeAGS tolerate OND (4 h deprivation followed by 20 h recovery) and 500 micromol/L NMDA plus 20 mmol/L KCl. Later in culture (insult onset at 24 h), tolerance persists in slices from hAGS but not in slices from ibeAGS. Ouabain (Na(+)K(+)ATPase inhibitor) administered 24 h in culture enhances survival of slices from hAGS (assessed 24 h later). Thus, tolerance to OND in slices from hAGS is due to intrinsic tissue properties likely involving NMDA receptors and ion channel arrest.