Reactive Changes to Astrocytes in the Nucleus Accumbens of the Forebrain after Restriction of Blood Flow in the Basins of Both Common Carotid Arteries in Rats

Studies on rats (n = 12) addressed reactive changes to astrocytes in the nucleus accumbens of the forebrain after global cerebral ischemia induced by bilateral occlusion of both common carotid arteries, this being a frequently used model for assessing the efficacies of pharmacological substances with antiischemic and neuroprotective properties. In these conditions, the nucleus accumbens is within the partial ischemia zone. Morphometric investigations of the nucleus accumbens were performed in three groups of rats (four animals in each group): after ligation of both common carotid arteries, after sham operation, and in intact animals. Astrocytes were detected on serial sections using the reaction for glial fibrillary acidic protein with hematoxylin counterstaining. At seven days after surgery, astrocyte counts were made for each animal using seven sequential squares (each of 0.01 mm²); the distances between astrocyte bodies and the walls of capillaries within a radius of 20 μm were measured, as were the areas of the cell bodies and the lengths of their main processes. Nucleus accumbens astrocytes in the seven-day bilateral common carotid artery occlusion model were exposed to a state of partial ischemia. Their reactive changes consisted of cytotoxic edema, with damage to intermediate filament proteins in the bodies, processes, and perivascular glial membranes. Concentration of astrocyte bodies close to blood capillaries operated as an adaptive mechanism and was a condition for cell survival in conditions of restricted brain blood flow.

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