Immunohistochemistry of leukotriene C4 in experimental cerebral vasospasm.

Experimental cerebral vasospasm was produced in a "two-hemorrhage" canine model and examined by immunohistochemistry for leukotriene C4 (LTC4). The immunostain for LTC4 showed a strong positivity in intima and adventitia and a scattered reaction in media of normal basilar artery. The immunoreactivity after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was little changed in intima and media. Inflammatory cells which were characterized histochemically as neutrophils and macrophages, were shown to infiltrate from the adventitia of basilar artery to the periphery of blood clot after SAH and were markedly immunoreactive for LTC4. Also the neutrophils increased in number with the lapse of time after SAH. Thus, it would be reasonable to conclude that the LTC4 responsible for the development of vasospasm would most likely be produced from the infiltrating neutrophils and macrophages. In addition, neurons in hypothalamus, median eminence, and pons, as well as ependymal and arachnoid cells were immunoreactive for LTC4 both in the control and after SAH, whereas astrocytes and oligodendrocytes were not immunoreactive for LTC4 in either case.