A New Hippocampal Model for Examining Intracerebral Hemorrhage-Related Neuronal Death

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is an urgent need to develop a model in which to study the mechanism of intracerebral hemorrhage-induced neuronal death in vivo. METHODS: This study was divided into 2 parts: (1) Rats received either an infusion of hemoglobin, ferrous iron, or saline into the right hippocampus; (2) Rats had an infusion of hemoglobin and then were treated with either deferoxamine or vehicle. Rats were killed for hippocampus size, DNA damage, and neuronal death measurements. RESULTS: Compared with saline, hemoglobin or iron injection caused hippocampal neuronal death. Systemic use of deferoxamine reduced hemoglobin-induced DNA damage, hippocampal neuronal death, and atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: This article demonstrates a new model and indicates that iron has a key role in hemoglobin-induced neuronal death.