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This study investigated the influence of temperature or glutamate antagonism on the immediate outcome of perinatal asphyxia. Perinatal asphyxia was produced by water immersion of fetus-containing uterus horns removed by cesarean section from ready to deliver rats. The uterus horns were kept in a water bath for different time periods, before the pups were delivered and stimulated to breathe. After delivery, the pups were assessed for behavior and for systemic glutamate, aspartate, lactate and pyruvate levels measured with in vivo microdialysis, or ex vivo for energy-rich phosphates, including adenosine triphosphate (ATP), in brain, heart and kidney. In a series of experiments, asphyxia was initiated in a water bath at 37 degrees C, before the pup-containing uterus horns were moved for different time intervals to a 15 degrees C bath. In another series of experiments, the mothers were treated with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist, dizocilpine (MK-801), or alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) antagonist,2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl benzo(f) quinoxalin NBQX) 1 h before hysterectomy and asphyxia at 37 degrees C. The rate of survival rapidly decreased following exposure to more than 16 min of asphyxia, and no survival could be observed after 22 min of asphyxia. An LD50 was estimated to occur at approximately 19 min of asphyxia. The outcome was paralleled by a decrease in ATP in kidney, followed by a decrease in heart and brain. A maximal decrease in ATP was observed after 20 min of asphyxia in all tissues. Systemic microdialysis revealed that glutamate, aspartate and pyruvate levels were increased with a peak after 5 min of asphyxia. In contrast, lactate levels increased along with the length of the insult. Survival was increased when the pup-containing uterus horns were moved from a 37 degrees C to a 15 degrees C bath, at 15 min of asphyxia (the LD50 was thus increased to 30 min). If the shift occurred at 10 or 5 min of asphyxia, the LD50 increased to 80 or 110 min, respectively. The effect of glutamate antagonism was minor compared to hypothermia; the best effect (an increase in the LD50 to approximately 22 min) was observed after combining AMPA and NMDA antagonists.

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