Dihydropyridine ligand binding decreases earlier in adolescent than in infant swine after global cerebral ischemia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs) are thought to play a major role in the alteration of calcium homeostasis during ischemia. Tissue functional state as well as responsiveness to therapy with calcium channel blockers may be a function of regional changes in the density of VDCCs. This study determined whether VDCCs are altered by global ischemia in infant and adolescent swine. METHODS We employed the radioligand 3HPN200-110 to quantify the binding characteristics of VDCCs in cerebral cortex, caudate, and hippocampus by equilibrium binding analysis. Adolescent and infant pigs underwent 3, 5, 10, and 20 minutes of global cerebral ischemia without reperfusion by ligation of the brachiocephalic and left subclavian arteries combined with hypotension to a mean arterial blood pressure of 50 mm Hg. Brain cortex, hippocampus, and caudate samples were taken during ischemia and frozen immediately in liquid nitrogen, and crude synaptosomal membranes were isolated by differential centrifugation/filtration. 3HPN200-110 equilibrium binding assays were performed in the presence or absence of 1.0 mumol/L unlabeled nitrendipine to determine total and nonspecific binding. RESULTS Infant cortex maximal binding (Bmax) increased to 176% of control after 5 minutes of global cerebral ischemia and remained significantly elevated (172% of control) after 10 minutes before falling to near control levels by 20 minutes. Adolescent cortex Bmax increased to 157% of control levels after 5 minutes but did not remain elevated, falling to 131% of control by 10 minutes and near control by 20 minutes. Infant caudate and hippocampus binding were significantly elevated after 10 (124% and 149% of control, respectively) and 20 (115% and 120% of control, respectively) minutes of ischemia. Adolescent caudate and hippocampus binding was either not significantly different from control levels (hippocampus at 10 minutes) or less than control after 10 and 20 minutes of global cerebral ischemia. The decrease in binding following the initial upregulation, which appeared earlier in the adolescent than the infant pigs, may indicate decreased tolerance to ischemia in the adolescent. CONCLUSIONS The binding of 3HPN200-110 in brain is altered during 20 minutes of global cerebral ischemia, and these changes are region- and age-dependent.