[The survivability time of central nervous system cells]

Our investigations show that vital functions of some neurons and glial cells may survive for 4-8 hours after death and disappear in parallel with destructive changes in cells. Up-to-date morphological techniques demonstrate that neurons and other cells of the CNS preserve biological activity not for several minutes as believed so far but up to 4-8 hours. It is too early to judge about functional importance of this phenomenon and further investigations into this problem are necessary. Temporal parameters of RNA synthesis in the brain cells give additional knowledge about CNS cells survival and this may be of interest for reanimatology and transplantology.