The acute and delayed effects of perinatal hypoxic brain damage in children and in model experiments with rodents

Abstract

Perinatal hypoxia is an important factor that has a negative influence on the development of the central nervous system. Children who experience perinatal hypoxia are characterized by disturbances of locomotor functions, decreased learning abilities, attention disorder, hyperactivity, increased anxiety, and other cognitive impairments. The consequences of perinatal hypoxia are actively studied in experiments with animals. It has been shown that hypoxia triggers a cascade of biochemical and molecular processes, such as energy insufficiency, depolarization of membranes, an increase in the release of mediators and suppression of their reuptake, an increase in the intracellular calcium level, and production of free radicals, which damage neurons and induce neurodegeneration and cell death. Simultaneously, compensatory-adaptive mechanisms that increase the resistance of the body to an oxygen deficit also begin to function in hypoxia. Further studies on the consequences of neonatal hypoxia in experiments with animals are necessary for the elucidation of the mechanisms of the acute and delayed effects of hypoxia, as well as for development of effective means for the correction of the negative consequences of perinatal hypoxia in clinics.