Ribonuclease improves the state of hippocampal sections in the post-ischemic period

Living hippocampal slices from Wistar rats were used to study the dynamics of changes in population electrical responses in field CA1 to electrical stimulation of Shaffer collaterals during the development of ischemia (imposed by exclusion of oxygen and glucose from the perfusion solution). These studies showed that during ischemia, addition of ribonuclease (a blocker of protein synthesis) to the perfusion solution resulted in a significantly smaller increase in the latent period of the response and slowed the onset of the reduction in the amplitude of the evoked potential, and promoted faster recovery of the response after the ischemia session ended. It is suggested that the reduction in protein synthesis due to ribonuclease preserved energy reserves in the nerve tissue, which in turn promoted more complete recovery of neuron function in the post-ischemic period.