GM1 ganglioside and darkly staining neurons in brains of rats subjected to neonatal hypoxia-ischemia.

Rat pups, seven days old, with right carotid artery ligations were exposed to an atmosphere of oxygen 8% remainder nitrogen for 2 hr. The animals that survived for three weeks after the hypoxic-ischemic episode had clusters of darkly stained (hematoxylin-eosin) neurons in the cortex and reduced uptake of dopamine (frontal cortex) and choline (frontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum) in preparations of synaptosomes. Treatment with GM1 ganglioside partially corrected the loss of uptake activity and increased the number of darkly stained neurons.