Main description:

Because stroke is essentially a disease of the vessels and blood flow, the most fundamental aspects of ischemic blood flow in the brain are under investigation by researchers. Their work was the focus of the sixth in the series of Keio University International Symposia for Life Sciences and Medicine, held in Tokyo in 1999. Selected here are 55 papers from the symposium, covering the buffy coat (glycocalyx) of endothelial cells, the blood-brain barrier and permeability, gene expression, vascular reactivity, dysregulation, inflammatory deterioration, cortical spreading depression, edema, microvascular derangement, and pathology, in ten major sections. The book includes the thought-provoking discussions that followed the presentations, thus providing an invaluable source of up-to-date information not only for researchers investigating microcirculation but also for clinicians implementing the most effective treatment for stroke patients.

Contents:

Historical Review of Developments in the Field of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.- Mechanisms of Mechanochemical Transduction in Vascular Cells.- Ultra Long Range Forces Between Macroscopic Bodies.- Role of the Endothelial Surface Coat in Microvessel Blood Flow.- Blood-Brain Barrier: Role of Brain Endothelial Surface Charge and Glycocalyx.- The Role of the Endothelial Surface Coat in Microvascular Permeability.- Mechanism of Inhibitory Effect of Hypoxia/Reoxygenation on Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication of Vascular Endothelial Cells in Culture.- Proteoloytic Opening of the Blood-Brain Barrier During Neuroinflammation.- Endothelial Dysfunction After Brain Ischemia and Reperfusion.- Local Blood-Brain Barrier Damage, Cerebral Edema, and Cell Injury During Reperfusion After 2 Hours of Focal Cerebral Ischemia.- Temporal Profile of Ischemic Edema: Comparison of Ultrastructure, Gravimetry, and Evans Blue Permeability.- Perivascular Cells of Small Cerebral Vessels (FGP, Mato cells) and Their Permeability Under Pathological Conditions.- Effects of Ischemia on Expression of Cyclooxygenase and Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in the Cerebral Circulation.- Role of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase and Cyclooxygenase-2 in the Mechanisms of Ischemic Brain Injury.- Dual Pathways of Free Radical Injury in Vascular Endothelial Cells: Loss of Nuclear DNA Integrity and Membrane Asymmetry During Enhanced Cysteine Protease Activity.- Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor: Protection Against Ischemic Brain Damage with MCA Occlusion in Rats.- Effect of Induction of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase on the Blood-Brain Barrier in the Rat.- Adenovirus-Mediated Gene Transfer to Cerebral Blood Vessels and Ischemic Brain: Perivascular Approach and Ischemic Threshold.- Recombinant Nitric Oxide Synthase Gene Transfer: Potential Roles in Gene Therapy of Cerebrovascular Disease.- Microvascular Integrin-Matrix Responses to Focal Cerebral Ischemia Are Rapid and Reflect Neuron Injury.- Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor: Protection Against Ischemic Brain Injury in Association with Reduced Apoptotic Signals but No rCBF Improvement.- Postischemic Hyperperfusion Does Not Necessarily Indicate Good Recovery of Brain Tissue. From the Viewpoint of PKA-Mediated Intracellular Signal Transduction.- Hemorrhage-Induced Brain Ischemia: Modulatory Role of Endogenous Opioids and Antiopioids in the Cerebrovascular Bed.- Pathophysiological Consequences of White Matter Compared to Gray Matter Ischemia.- Apoptosis in Cerebral Vasospasm After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.- Multitracer PET Studies in MCAO of Cats as a Model for Acute Ischemic Stroke.- Activation CBF Varied by Perturbation of PaCO2 and PaO2 Level: PET Study.- Comparison of Multitracer PET and Functional MRI in a Pig MCAO Model for Acute Ischemic Stroke.- Cerebral Blood Flow, Hemoglobin Oxygenation, and Water Diffusion Changes During Stroke: Fingerprinting with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and MRI.- Evolution of Capillary Perfusion Deficits in Ischemic Rat Brains.- In Vivo Investigation of the Cortical Microcirculation Under Ischemia/Reperfusion in Rats Using Dynamic Laser Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy.- Blood Flow Values in the Ischemic Brain Tissue as Influenced by Factor m with Loss of Tissue Vivacity.- Role of Nitric Oxide in Variations of the Response of Cerebral Blood Flow to Hypotension and Focal Ischemia.- Heterogeneous Autoregulatory Capacity in the Rat Cerebral Cortex as Observed by a Novel Two-Dimensional Flow Mapping Technique.- Changes in Cerebrovascular Reactivity After Stimulation and Depletion of Sensory Fibers in Rats.- Impact of Focal Ischemia/Reperfusion on the Microcirculation in Cerebral Cortex in Rats.- Erythrocyte Flow in the Cerebral Capillary Network During Ischemia and Hypoxemia: Observations with Intravital Microscopy.- Brain Microvasculature: Evidence for Interactive Endothelium-Dependent Responses Induced by Endothelin-1 and Nitric Oxide.- Acute and Delayed Effects of Transient Global Cerebral Ischemia on Rat Brain Capillary Endothelial Cells In Vivo.- Heme Oxygenase-Carbon Monoxide System as a Regulator of Microvascular Function.- Evidence for CSD or CSD-Like Phenomena in Human Brain in Relation to Migraine and Stroke.- Responses to Cortical Spreading Depression During Normoxia and Ischemia: Multiparametric Monitoring Study in Animals and the Human Brain.- Profiles of Transient Cortical Depolarization and Calcium Ion Influx in Periinfarct Regions of Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Cats.- Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Cortical Blood Flow in the Penumbra of Venous Infarcts.- Quantitative Topography of the Hemodynamic-Oxidative Metabolic Interrelation by Multispot Measurement Approach in Rat Ischemia Models.- Role of Altered Blood Properties in the Propagation of Ischemic Blood Flow: Contribution of Aging and Oxidative Stress.- Direct Repeated Measurements of POD in the Brain During Ischemia and Reperfusion.- TNFa, Endothelium, and Microcirculation in Stroke Initiation, Progression, and Tolerance.- Coagulation Triggered by Erythrocyte Membrane and Its Possible Significance in Thrombus Formation.- Effect of Intraischemic Hypothermia on Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 and Migration of Neutrophils.- Selective Thrombin Inhibitor (Argatroban): Amelioration of Platelet Adhesion to Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells In Vitro: Observation with Video-Enhanced Contrast Microscopy.- MRI to Demonstrate that Tissue Plasminogen Activator Increases Stroke Volume If Cerebral Arteries Are Not Successfully Recanalized.- Microvascular Pathology in Familial Multiinfarct Dementia or CADASIL: Implications for Cerebral Blood Flow.- Neural Activation and Glucose Metabolism in Hemodynamic Ischemia.- Effects of Hyperthermia and Hypothermia on Ischemic Vascular Damages.