Gene expression in rat striatum following carbon monoxide poisoning and hypoxic hypoxia

We have proposed the existence of a threshold for brain damage, in terms of hydroxyl radical production in rat striatum, between poisoning of carbon monoxide (CO) at 1000 ppm and 3000 ppm, where blood CO-hemoglobin levels reach approximately 50% and over 70%, respectively. To search for factors involved in brain damage, we examined the effects of air, 1000 ppm CO, 3000 ppm CO and 5% O2 (hypoxic conditions comparable with those by 3000 ppm CO) on gene expression in rat striatum, using microarray analysis.本研究提出，以大鼠纹状体（rat striatum）的羟自由基（hydroxyl radical）生成为评价指标，1000ppm与3000ppm一氧化碳（carbon monoxide, CO）中毒场景间存在明确的脑损伤阈值，二者对应的血液碳氧血红蛋白（CO-hemoglobin）水平分别约为50%与70%以上。为探寻脑损伤的相关致病因子，本研究采用基因芯片分析（microarray analysis）技术，检测了空气、1000ppm CO、3000ppm CO及5%氧气（该低氧条件与3000ppm CO中毒时的低氧水平相当）对大鼠纹状体基因表达的影响。