Nitrosyl hemoglobin production during reperfusion after focal cerebral ischemia in rats

We first detected a definite nitrosyl hemoglobin (HbNO) signal in the jugular blood by electron spin resonance spectroscopy during early reperfusion after cerebral ischemia. A distinct three-line hyperfine structure, characteristic to HbNO, was demonstrated at 30 min of recirculation after 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats. Only a weak HbNO signal was observed in animals with 2 h sustained ischemia or with sham operation. The present findings suggest that reperfusion after cerebral ischemia facilitates nitric oxide generation in the brain, which leads to the increased nitrosylation of erythrocyte hemoglobin in the cerebral circulating blood.