UCSF

The developing brain is uniquely susceptible to oxidative stress and endogenous antioxidant mechanisms are not sufficient to prevent injury from a hypoxic-ischemic challenge. Glutathione peroxidase (GPX1) activity reduces hypoxic-ischemic injury. Therapeutic hypothermia also reduces hypoxic-ischemic injury, in the rodent and the human brain, but the benefit is limited. Here, we combined GPX1 overexpression with hypothermia in a P9 mouse model of hypoxia-ischemia (HI) to test the effectiveness of both treatments together. Histological analysis showed that WT mice with hypothermia were less injured than WT with normothermia. In the GPX1-tg mice, however, despite a lower median score in the hypothermia treated mice, there was no significant difference between hypothermia and normothermia. GPX1 protein expression was higher in the cortex of all transgenic groups at 30 min and 24 h, as well as in WT 30 min after HI, with and without hypothermia. GPX1 was higher in the hippocampus of all transgenic groups and WT with HI and normothermia, at 24 h, but not at 30 min. Spectrin 150 was higher in all groups with HI, while spectrin 120 was higher in HI groups only at 24 h. There was reduced ERK1/2 activation in both WT and GPX1-tg HI at 30 min. Thus, with a relatively moderate insult we see a benefit with cooling in the WT, but not the GPX1-tg mouse brain. The fact that we see no benefit with increased GPx1 here in the P9 model (unlike in the P7 model), may indicate that oxidative stress in these older mice is elevated to an extent that increased GPx1 is insufficient for reducing injury. The lack of benefit of overexpressing GPX1 in conjunction with hypothermia after HI indicates that pathways triggered by GPX1 overexpression may interfere with the neuroprotective mechanisms provided by HT.