Quantification of cerebral infarct size by creatine kinase BB isoenzyme.

Creatine Kinase BB isoenzyme (CKBB) has been shown to rise in the serum and CSF following acute cerebral injury. To test the hypothesis that brain infarct size could be estimated from the appearance and disappearance of CKBB in the serum and CSF, strokes of varying size were produced in twelve mongrel dogs by silastic emboli. The rate of disappearance, Kd of CKBB (-.00732 +/- 0.001 min-1 mean +/- SE, N = 8) was determined by injecting purified CKBB (25 IU) intravenously then measuring its disappearance. Following the embolic stroke, serum samples were taken hourly for 24 hours and then at intervals for up to 160 hours for measurement of CKBB by radioimmunoassay until the animals were sacrificed. The brains were then removed, fixed in formalin, cut in 2 mm sections and photographed. The area of the infarct was measured using high pad digitizer interfaced with an Apple computer. The infarct size was then calculated from the area and thickness. Using a one-compartment mathematical model, the infarct size was estimated from the amount of CKBB appearing in the serum, the Kd of CKBB, and the amount of CKBB depleted from tissue. The computed infarct size correlated well (r = 0.94) with the measured infarct size. This model may have value in testing therapeutic modalities in the intact animal.