Increased expression of heme oxygenase mRNA in rat brain following transient forebrain ischemia

Heme oxygenase is a rate-limiting enzyme in heme catabolism, the end of which include iron, carbon monoxide and bilirubin. Expression of the inducible form of heme oxygenase (HO-1) was investigated in rat brain following 20 min of forebrain ischemia by Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses. The level of HO-1 mRNA was undetectable in the cerebral cortex of sham control, but increased following ischemic insult, reached the maximum after 12 h of reperfusion, and then decreased. In sham control brain, HO-1 mRNA was detectable only in the scattered neuron-like cells within the dentate gyrus hilus. At 12 h of reperfusion, the remarkable increase in HO-1 mRNA levels was observed in both neuronal and glia-like cells distributed in the neocortex, hippocampus and thalamus.