Tenascin-C is induced in cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats and humans: a pilot study

Abstract Objective: Cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has been hypothesized to occur because of both inflammation-mediated sustained contraction of smooth muscle cells and vascular remodeling. As our recent study showed that tenascin-C (TN-C), an extracellular matrix glycoprotein which is up-regulated in inflammatory states and is associated with tissue remodeling, causes vasospasm-like changes in arterial walls, we examined whether TN-C might be induced in relation to the occurrence of cerebral vasospasm experimentally and clinically. Methods: First, rat models were produced by means of a single cisternal injection of either autologous arterial blood or saline. Immunostaining for TN-C was performed with basilar arteries obtained from non-operated rats (n = 3) and on days 1-4 in SAH (n = 18) or saline-injected (n = 12) rats. Second, levels of TN-C were prospectively measured in serum in 31 consecutive patients diagnosed with aneurysmal SAH on days 1-12 and compared between ...