Subcellular reaction to cerebral hypoxia

: Compensatory-adaptive reaction of the brain to hypoxia depends on destructive and reparative processes developing in neuronal and glial elements. A drastic tension and reconstruction of the energy apparatus--mitochondria occurs, as well as reversible disturbances in informative connections between the nucleus and cytoplasm and between nerve fibers and synapses. As a result, structural-functional activity of organells decreases along with changes in metabolic processes. Destructive processes in oligodendroglia, at all stages of the experiment, are more pronounced than in neurons. Preliminary injection of hydroxybutyric acid to the animals preserves the cellular energy potential under hypoxia, that is evident from the lack of severe alterations in mitochondria and other organells. Mechanisms of the adaptive-compensatory reaction in cortical neurons under hypoxia are connected with tension and reconstruction of all organells of the brain cellular elements and with biochemical shifts of lactate dehydrogenase enzymes.