Markers of structural and functional impairments of the central nervous system in an experimental model of thiopental coma

Abstract

The markers of impairments of the nervous system were evaluated in rats at various time points after a sodium thiopental injection at the LD₅₀ using biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. The thiopental coma state was associated with a decrease in the levels of superoxide dismutase 6 h after the injection, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase 24 and 72 h after the injection, and pigment epithelium-derived factor 6᾿2 h after the injection, as well an increase in the levels of glutathione peroxidase 72 h after the injection and caspase-3 6 h after the injection in the blood plasma of rats. Immunohistochemical study of caspase-3 in the brain tissue revealed increased expression of the enzyme in the sensorimotor cortex and hippocampus 3 days after the thiopental injection.