A combined method for measurement of cerebral blood flow and immunohistochemistry for investigation of cerebral ischemia

A combined method was established where measurement of cerebral blood flow (CBF) by quantitative autoradiography and detection of morphologic ischemic damage by immunohistochemistry could be accomplished simultaneously with the same brain. The method was applied to the gerbil brain 15 min after occlusion of the right common carotid artery which demonstrated that the reduction of focal CBF can be heterogenous at an early ischemic period, that the residual focal CBF was below 8.0 ml/100 g/min in some areas with ischemic lesions but other areas were tolerant of severe hypoperfusion. The results also suggested that the pathophysiological mechanism of selective tissue vulnerability might be different from one site to another in cerebral ischemia. This method will be useful for autoradiographic measurement of other physiological and biochemical parameters in combination with the immunohistochemical method for demonstration of not only the structural damage, but also the alteration of cell-specific functions.