Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

The Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Model of Perinatal Ischemia
Published on: November 19, 2008
Granulocyte stimulating factor attenuates hypoxic-ischemic brain injury by inhibiting apoptosis in neonatal rats
Bong Rim Kim1, Jae Won Shim, Dong Kyung Sung
1Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Purpose:
This study was undertaken to determine the neuroprotective effect of granulocyte stimulating factor (G-CSF) on neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.
Materials And Methods:
Seven-day-old male newborn rat pups were subjected to 110 minutes of 8% oxygen following a unilateral carotid artery ligation. Apoptosis was identified by performing terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining and flow cytometry with a combination of fluorescinated annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) and JC-1 (5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'- tetraethylbenzimidazolyl-carbocyanine iodide). The extent of cerebral infarction was evaluated at 2 weeks after recovery.
Results:
With a single dose (50microg/kg) of G-CSF treatment immediately after hypoxic-ischemic insult, hypoxia-ischemia induced increase in TUNEL-positive cells, annexinV+/PI- and JC-1 positive apoptotic cells in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex was significantly reduced at 24 hours, measured by flow cytometry, and the extent of cerebral infarction at 2 weeks after recovery was also significantly attenuated compared to the hypoxia-ischemia control group.
Conclusion:
Our data suggest that G-CSF is neuroprotective by inhibiting apoptosis, thereby reducing the ensuing cerebral infarction in a newborn rat pup model of cerebral hypoxia-ischemia (HI).
