Acute and persistent suppression of preproenkephalin mRNA expression in the striatum following developmental hypoxic-ischemic injury.

The striatum is vulnerable to hypoxic-ischemic injury during development. In a rodent model of perinatal hypoxia-ischemia, it has been shown that striatal neurons are not uniformly vulnerable. Cholinergic neurons and NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons are relatively spared. However, it is unknown what classes of striatal neurons are relatively sensitive. One of the major classes of striatal neurons uses enkephalin as a neurotransmitter. We have studied the effect of early hypoxic-ischemic injury on this class of neurons using a quantitative solution hybridization assay for preproenkephalin mRNA in conjunction with in situ hybridization. Hypoxia-ischemia results in an early (up to 24 h) decrease in striatal preproenkephalin mRNA, which is shown by in situ hybridization to occur mainly in the dorsal portion of the striatum. By 14 days, whole striatal preproenkephalin mRNA and total enkephalin-containing peptide levels are normal. However, at 14 days, in situ hybridization reveals that regions of complete preproenkephalin mRNA-positive neuron loss remain in the dorsal region. Normal whole striatal levels are due to an up-regulation of preproenkephalin mRNA expression in the ventrolateral region of the injured striatum. Given the important role that the enkephalin-containing striatal efferent projection plays in regulating motor function, its relative loss may be important in the chronic disturbances of motor control observed in brain injury due to developmental hypoxic-ischemic injury.