The effect of ischemia and pharmacological treatment evaluated on synaptosomes and purified mitochondria from rat cerebral cortex.

Changes in the maximal rate of some cerebral enzymatic activities related to energy transduction (lactate dehydrogenase; citrate synthase and malate dehydrogenase; total NADH-cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome oxidase) as well as both glutamate dehydrogenase and acetylcholine esterase were assayed in the purified mitochondrial fraction or in crude synaptosomal fraction from cerebral cortex. The evaluations were performed in rats before and after a postdecapitative normothermic ischemia of 5, 10, 20 and 40 min duration. The ischemic damage resulted in a decrease in the activity of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase and total NADH-cytochrome c reductase, and of synaptosomal acetylcholine esterase. The biochemical evaluations were performed also after an i.p. pretreatment with vincamine, trimetazidine and suloctidil (50 mg/kg). The drugs induced different changes in enzyme activities as a function of the ischemia duration. These various interferences are discussed with regard to the possible drugs mode of action.