Regional development of glutamate-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor sites in asphyxiated newborn infants

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subclass of glutamate receptors was examined in newborn infants dying between 25 weeks' gestation and term, either from acute cerebral hypoxia, or from other noncerebral conditions incompatible with life. Frontal, occipital, temporal, and motor cortex tissue samples were obtained at autopsy (post mortem delay: median, 45.9 hr; range, 24-96 hr) and frozen for subsequent [3H]MK801 homogenate binding assays. Whereas no significant variation was observed in ligand affinity (KD), in all cases receptor density (BMAX) increased with gestational age, in occipital cortex (27 weeks, BMAX = 222 +/- 44 fmol x mg protein(-1); 39 weeks, 439 +/- 42 fmol x mg protein[-1]), but not in motor or temporal cortex. The gestational-age increase also occurred in control frontal cortex (27 weeks, 284 +/- 80; 39 weeks, 567 +/- 40 fmol x mg protein[-1]), but was significantly less marked in frontal cortex in hypoxia cases (27 weeks, 226 +/- 90; 39 weeks, 326 +/- 47 fmol x mg protein[-1]). In all cortical areas except temporal, the maximal response to glutamate did not vary across case groups. Hypoxia cases showed an increased response to glutamate enhancement selectively in temporal cortex. Binding site density did not correlate with degree of hypoxia as assessed pathologically, suggesting that receptor differences preceded the hypoxic episode. Regional differences in glutamate-NMDA receptor sites may underlie increased vulnerability to hypoxia at birth.