Cell proliferation after ischemic injury in gerbil brain. An immunocytochemical and autoradiographic study.

Tritiated thymidine autoradiography was used to measure cellular proliferation after ischemic injury in gerbil brain. Gerbils were subjected to bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries which resulted in areas of necrosis, or infarcts, in the posterior thalamus or midbrain. From 12 h to 10 days following the ischemia, gerbils were injected with 3H thymidine, sacrificed 4 h later, and the brains sectioned. In order to identify astrocytes and monocytes/macrophages, immunocytochemistry was performed prior to autoradiography, using antisera against glial fibrillary acidic protein and endothelial-monocyte reticuloendothelial antigen, respectively. Immunocytochemistry was also used to visualize microvessel laminin, myelin, and leakage of serum albumin. Lastly, a histochemical procedure for acid phosphatase activity was employed to verify cellular phagocytic activity in the wound. A reproducible sequence of reactions took place during the first 10 days after ischemia. Early changes included leakage of albumin and myelin breakdown, followed by arrival of monocytes at 2 days and their differentiation into macrophages by 5 days. These cells exhibited intense proliferation from 2 to 6 days post-ischemia. Microvessel endothelial cells were maximally labeled at 4 days post-ischemia. Hypertrophied astrocytes were apparent at 2 days and proliferated from 3 to 7 days post-ischemia, and by 10 days the wound was replaced by a "glial scar".