Detection of free radicals during brain ischemia and reperfusion by spin trapping and microdialysis.

Extracellular free radicals were detected in rat striatal perfusate samples by intracerebral microdialysis coupled to the spin trapping technique. Five Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 30 min of global ischemia followed by reperfusion; throughout the experimental period the intrastriatal dialysing probe was perfused with Ringer's solution containing the spin trap agent pyridyl-N-oxide-t-butylnitrone (100 mM) together with the iron chelating agent diethylentriaminepentacetic acid (100 microM). A radical adduct occurred during ischemia and early reperfusion, but not in basal conditions; the spin adduct was characterized as a carbon centered radical, consistent with the presence of an oxidative attack on membrane lipids. The direct evidence of the formation of free radicals supports the hypothesis that free radicals play a role in the pathogenesis of the histological damage during brain ischemia.