Altered expression of P(2) receptor mRNAs in the basilar artery in a rat double hemorrhage model.

Background and Purpose—Extracellular ATP might induce cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage through P2 receptor. To investigate the roles of P2 receptor subtypes in vasospasm, we examined the changes in mRNA expression of P2 receptor subtypes in basilar arteries from double cisternal blood injection rat models. Methods—One hundred male Sprague-Dawley rats, each weighing 350 to 400 g, were divided into 2 groups of 50. In the first group (n=50), the autologous arterial blood (0.2 to 0.3 mL) was injected into the cisterna magna on days 0 and 2. The rats were killed on day 3, 5, or 7 (n=10 in each group). In the sham group (n=10), the rats were injected with saline (0.3 mL) instead of blood. Ten rats were killed without blood or saline injection and served as control. The basilar arteries from rats in each group were used for reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. In another group of 50 rats, the same experiment was conducted, and the basilar arteries were collected for transmission e...