gms | German Medical Science

66th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)
Friendship Meeting with the Italian Society of Neurosurgery (SINch)

German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)

7 - 10 June 2015, Karlsruhe

The vascular source of vasogenic brain edema following brain trauma – identification by in vivo 2-photon microscopy in mice

Meeting Abstract

  • Susanne M. Schwarzmaier - Department of Neurodegeneration, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland; Department of Anesthesiology; Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University of Munich Medical Center, Germany
  • Micaela Gallozzi - Department of Neurodegeneration, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland
  • Nikolaus Plesnila - Department of Neurodegeneration, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland; Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University of Munich Medical Center, Germany

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. 66. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC). Karlsruhe, 07.-10.06.2015. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2015. DocDI.20.02

doi: 10.3205/15dgnc213, urn:nbn:de:0183-15dgnc2135

Published: June 2, 2015

© 2015 Schwarzmaier et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Outline

Text

Vasogenic brain edema due to vascular leakage is one of the most important factors determining the clinical outcome of patients following acute brain injury. To date, performing a detailed in vivo quantification of vascular leakage has not been possible. Here, we used in vivo 2-photon microscopy (2-PM) to determine the spatial (3D) and temporal development of vasogenic brain edema following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in mice; in addition, we identified the vessel types involved in vascular leakage.

Thirteen male Tie2-GFP mice (6-8 weeks old) were subjected to controlled cortical impact (CCI) or a sham operation; subsequently, a cranial window was prepared adjacent to the injury site, and tetramethylrhodamine-dextran (TMRM, 40 mg/kg, MW 40,000) was injected intravenously to visualize blood plasma leakage. Parenchymal fluorescence intensity was monitored in three regions for 2-4 h post-CCI, reaching from the surface of the brain to a depth of 300 μm, and TMRM leakage was measured as an increase in TMRM fluorescence intensity outside the vessel lumen and in the parenchyma.

In the CCI group, vascular leakage was detected in all investigated regions as early as 2.5 h post-injury. This leakage increased over time and was more pronounced proximal to the primary contusion. Both arterioles and venules contributed similarly to brain edema formation, and their contribution was independent of vessel size; however, capillaries were the major contributor to leakage.

In summary, using 2-PM to perform in vivo 3D deep-brain imaging, we found that TBI induces vascular leakage from capillaries, venules, and arterioles. Thus, all three vessel types are involved in trauma-induced brain edema and should be considered when developing novel therapies for preventing vasogenic brain edema.