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. 2014 Jun 1;4(2):79–87. doi: 10.1089/ther.2014.0003

Extracranial Hypothermia During Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Is Neuroprotective In Vivo

Michael P Hutchens 1,✉, Tetsuhiro Fujiyoshi 1, Ines P Koerner 1, Paco S Herson 1
PMCID: PMC4046354  PMID: 24865403

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that ischemic brain injury is modulated by peripheral signaling. Peripheral organ ischemia can induce brain inflammation and injury. We therefore hypothesized that brain injury sustained after cardiac arrest (CA) is influenced by peripheral organ ischemia and that peripheral organ protection can reduce brain injury after CA and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Male C57Bl/6 mice were subjected to CA/CPR. Brain temperature was maintained at 37.5°C±0.0°C in all animals. Body temperature was maintained at 35.1°C±0.1°C (normothermia) or 28.8°C±1.5°C (extracranial hypothermia [ExHy]) during CA. Body temperature after resuscitation was maintained at 35°C in all animals. Behavioral testing was performed at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after CA/CPR. Either 3 or 7 days after CA/CPR, blood was analyzed for serum urea nitrogen, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and interleukin-1β; mice were euthanized; and brains were sectioned. CA/CPR caused peripheral organ and brain injury. ExHy animals experienced transient reduction in brain temperature after resuscitation (2.1°C±0.5°C for 4 minutes). Surprisingly, ExHy did not change peripheral organ damage. In contrast, hippocampal injury was reduced at 3 days after CA/CPR in ExHy animals (22.4%±6.2% vs. 45.7%±9.1%, p=0.04, n=15/group). This study has two main findings. Hypothermia limited to CA does not reduce peripheral organ injury. This unexpected finding suggests that after brief ischemia, such as during CA/CPR, signaling or events after reperfusion may be more injurious than those during the ischemic period. Second, peripheral organ hypothermia during CA reduces hippocampal injury independent of peripheral organ protection. While it is possible that this protection is due to subtle differences in brain temperature during early reperfusion, we speculate that additional mechanisms may be involved. Our findings add to the growing understanding of brain-body cross-talk by suggesting that peripheral interventions can protect the brain even if peripheral organ injury is not altered.

Introduction

Cardiac arrest (CA) is the cause of nearly 500,000 deaths/year in the United States alone (Zheng et al., 2001). Decades of research have led to a single significant post-resuscitation therapy, therapeutic hypothermia (TH), which improves neurologic outcome and the implementation of which appears to be improving meaningful survival after CA (Bernard et al., 2002; Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest Study Group et al., 2002; Girotra et al., 2012). Although there is extensive evidence that hypothermia is effective in reducing injury after CA and other ischemic insults in animal models (Leonov et al., 1990), the mechanism(s) by which hypothermia interrupts the process is complex and incompletely understood (Yenari and Han, 2012). Unfortunately, since TH can be difficult to implement it may be underutilized (Laver et al., 2006; Merchant et al., 2006), suggesting that other, more accessible therapies acting through similar mechanisms might improve outcomes further. Understanding the mechanisms by which hypothermia alters outcome is, therefore, essential to further improvement in meaningful survival after CA.

Emerging data suggest that ischemic injury to one organ can induce injury in other organs. For example, experimental acute kidney injury (AKI) causes cardiac dysfunction and induces apoptotic cell death in cardiac muscle and lungs (Hassoun et al., 2007, 2009; White et al., 2012). Similarly, both lung and bowel ischemia/reperfusion induce acute liver injury (Horie and Ishii, 2001; Esme et al., 2006). Within the brain, AKI causes microglial activation and cell death within the hippocampal CA1 (Liu et al., 2008). Peripheral injury as experienced during surgery similarly causes an inflammatory response that activates microglia in the hippocampus and affects behavior (Cibelli et al., 2010; Terrando et al., 2010). Liver ischemia/reperfusion alters neuronal phenotypes and induces Fos expression in multiple regions (Bundzikova et al., 2011). Taken together, these data suggest that interventions which mitigate the effect of ischemic injury to one organ system might improve outcome in another system by interrupting organ cross-talk.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether brain injury after CA is exacerbated by cross-talk from injured extracranial organs and whether protection of peripheral organs can thus reduce brain injury. We specifically hypothesized that intra-arrest hypothermia of extracranial organs would reduce extracranial organ injury and that this extracranial protection would subsequently reduce intracranial (i.e., brain) organ injury. To test this hypothesis, we employed a well-characterized mouse model of CA and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in which temperature of the brain and other organs can be independently controlled, and in which we have previously demonstrated both neurologic and peripheral organ injury (Hutchens et al., 2007, 2010, 2011; Allen et al., 2011).

Materials and Methods

Animals and experimental groups

This study was conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health guidelines for the care and use of animals in research, and all animal protocols were approved by the Oregon Health and Science University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Six- to eight-week-old, 20–25 g male C57Bl/6 mice (Charles River Laboratories, Boston, MA) were subjected to CA/CPR after being randomly assigned to treatment groups—normothermia versus extracranial hypothermia (ExHy) in all experimental protocols.

CA and CPR with controlled intra- and extracranial temperature

We performed CA/CPR as previously described with the addition of independent control of intra- and extracranial temperature (Hutchens et al., 2007, 2010, 2011; Allen et al., 2011). Briefly, we subjected mice to 8 minutes CA, using active control with warming via a separate temperature control system to keep the brain normothermic during CA for all animals. In one group (ExHy), we used active cooling to achieve rectal hypothermia, maintaining intracranial normothermia. In the control group (normothermia), both intracranial and extracranial temperatures were maintained within the normal range throughout CA/CPR and early recovery. We compared histologic and functional central nervous system outcome as well as serum indicators of renal and hepatic function and inflammation. General anesthesia was induced with 4% isoflurane in 2:1 air:oxygen mixture, and then maintained with 1–2% isoflurane. Animals were then placed in the supine position under a warming lamp. A rectal temperature probe was inserted. In the preliminary temperature monitoring protocol, temporalis muscle, intraprenchymal brain, and auricular canal temperature probes were inserted at this point; in the primary protocol, only the auricular canal probe was placed at this time. The heating lamp was controlled by a proportional-integral-derivative algorithm-controlled temperature controller (Digi-Sense; Cole Parmer, Vernon Hills, IL), set to 37.0°C, and a rectal temperature of 37.0°C±0.5°C was maintained. A PE-10 catheter was placed in the right jugular vein. After tracheal intubation with a 22G teflon catheter (InSyte-W; BD, Franklin, NJ), a coil of polyethylene tubing connected to a temperature-controlled water bath and pump was secured around the head to control brain temperature. The water bath temperature was maintained at 41.0°C using a temperature-controlled heating element. Subcutaneous electrocardiography (EKG) electrodes were placed. CA was then induced with an intravenous injection of 40 μL of 0.5 M potassium chloride and confirmed by the presence of asystole on the EKG. The endotracheal tube was disconnected. During CA, the auricular canal temperature was maintained at 37.5°C±0.0°C by intermittent actuation of the pump connected to the head coil. In the ExHy group, the heating lamp was turned off, and a rectal temperature of 28.8°C±1.5°C was achieved and maintained using isopropyl alcohol wipes of the thorax and abdomen. In the normothermia group, a rectal temperature of 35.1°C±0.1°C was maintained using an insulated blanket and the automated temperature controller with heating lamp. 7.5 minutes after onset of CA, the endotracheal tube was reconnected and mechanical ventilation was restarted with 100% oxygen. Eight minutes after the onset of CA, chest compressions were initiated at a rate of 300/min. Epinephrine, 5–16 μg in 0.9% sodium chloride solution (0.5–1.0 mL) was administered intravenously. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was confirmed by EKG and visible cardiac contractions on the chest wall. After ROSC, the rectal temperature target was 35.0°C±0.5°C in both groups, and the heating lamp and head coil were reactivated to achieve this goal. The trachea was extubated when spontaneous respiratory rate was >60 breaths/min. Animals were then placed in a recovery cage, which was placed on a warming pad controlled at 37°C.

Temperature monitoring and intracranial thermal effects of extracranial hypothermic arrest

In this preliminary protocol, animals (n=4 normothermic, n=5 ExHy) were subjected to CA/CPR as described earlier; however, temperature was simultaneously electronically monitored within the auricular canal, the temporalis muscle, the brain parenchyma, and the rectum. Parenychymal brain temperature was monitored by insertion of a temperature probe through a needle hole placed 2 mm deep within the left parietal region. Mice in this cohort were killed immediately after recovering from CA/CPR, and no further outcomes were measured.

Sham procedure

Animals in the sham procedure group underwent all procedures described earlier in CA and CPR with Controlled Intra- and Extracranial Temperature section, with the exception of induction of CA and subsequent administration of cardiac compressions and epinephrine. Sham animals were sacrificed 3 days later and outcomes were measured identically to treatment animals.

Measurement of histopathologic brain injury

Three (n=15/treatment) or 7 days (n=11/treatment) after CA/CPR, mice were deeply anesthetized with 4% isoflurane. Blood was drawn for renal and hepatic functional outcomes and serum cytokine levels, and the mice were then transcardially perfused with 0.9% saline followed by 4% paraformaldehyde. The brain was removed and paraffin embedded, and 6 μm coronal sections were cut through the dorsal hippocampus. These were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for analysis of neuronal death. The hippocampal CA1 region was analyzed at three levels, 100 μm apart, starting −1.5 mm from the bregma. Nonviable neurons were identified by bright pink eosinophilic cytoplasm and a dark pyknotic nucleus. Viable and nonviable neurons were counted in three microscopic fields per section, and the percentage of nonviable neurons was averaged for three sections per animal as previously described (Allen et al., 2011).

Measurement of functional central nervous system injury

Each animal was scored for neurologic deficit every other day starting 24 hours after CA/CPR using a scoring system that graded consciousness, interaction, eye appearance, breathing, food/water intake, nest building, gait, ability to hold on to a wire, and overall activity each on a 0–2 to 0–5 point scale as previously described (Allen et al., 2011). The resulting neuroscore had a range of 0–23, with 0 indicating fully normal function.

Measurement of renal and hepatic injury

At the time of euthanasia, blood was drawn from the apex of the left ventricle and placed in lithium heparin tubes. Samples were then analyzed for urea nitrogen, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) using an enzyme-coupled point of care analyzer (Abaxis Medical Diagnostics, Union City, CA).

Measurement of systemic inflammatory response (IL-1β)

At the time of euthanasia, blood was drawn from the apex of the left ventricle and collected in serum separation tubes. Serum was stored at −80°C until analysis. Interleukin (IL)-1β concentration was measured using 50 μL serum in a mouse IL-1β ELISA (eBioscience, Inc., San Diego, CA), according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism 6.0 (GraphPad, LaJolla, CA). All data are presented as mean±SEM. Two-group comparisons were performed using t-tests with correction for unequal variance, as appropriate, and two-tailed p-values were reported. A nonparametric test, the Mann–Whitney, was employed for nonparametric data. Time-dependent between-group comparisons were assessed using two-factor analysis of variance followed by the Holm–Sidak test for multiple comparisons. Twenty-four hours of survival was assessed using chi-square analysis. Correlation was assessed using Spearman's test. Statistical significance was inferred from p<0.05.

Results

Auricular canal temperature most closely approximates brain parenchymal temperature during CA/CPR

Overall, the interaction between site and measured temperature was highly significant (p<0.0001), with temporalis temperature overestimating brain parenchymal temperature by as much as 0.9°C±0.4°C. As shown in Figure 1, the discrepancy between temporalis and brain parenchymal temperature reached a maximum 20 minutes after ROSC, while the difference between auricular canal and brain parenchymal temperature was negligible and nonsignificant at all time points. Therefore, in the experiments that followed, auricular temperature was used to monitor brain parenchymal temperature.

FIG. 1.

FIG. 1.

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Auricular canal temperature is not different from brain parenchymal temperature. Temperature measured is plotted by minute within the cardiac arrest (CA)/cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) sequence (baseline=BL, arrest=CA, return of spontaneous circulation=ROSC; time point in minutes follows the phase abbreviation, e.g., ROSC10=10 minutes after return of spontaneous circulation). Temperature was monitored within the auricular canal (“Ear”), within the brain parenchyma (“Brain”), and within the temporalis (“Temporalis”) muscle during CA/CPR and recovery. There was no significant difference between auricular and brain temperature at any time point. Temporalis temperature overestimated brain temperature, statistically significant at the ROSC20 time point (mean±SEM, n=9).

Intra-arrest ExHy induces transient post-arrest intracranial hypothermia

In the preliminary, brain parenchymal temperature monitoring protocol, body cavity temperature control resulted in ExHy (mean rectal temperature immediately after ROSC: 35.1°C±0.1°C vs. 28.8°C±1.5°C, gradient 6.4°C±1.7°C). Although the head and body were actively, independently temperature controlled, active resuscitation coincided with a transient fall in brain parenchymal temperature during the recovery period (at the point of maximal gradient, mean brain parenchymal temperature was 34.7°C±0.3°C in ExHy-treated animals as compared with normothermic controls' 36.8°C±0.2°C, 4 minutes after ROSC, p<0.0001). This difference, illustrated in Figure 2, resolved after 15 minutes of the recovery period.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 2.

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Extracranial hypothermia induces transient brain parenchymal cooling. Temperature was measured within the brain parenchyma with a temperature probe placed 2 mm deep within the left parietal region and is plotted by minute within the CA/CPR sequence (baseline=BL, arrest=CA, return of spontaneous circulation=ROSC, time point in minutes follows the phase abbreviation, e.g., ROSC10=10 minutes after return of spontaneous circulation). Mice treated with extracranial hypothermia experienced a transient drop in brain parenchymal temperature despite external warming of the cranium (maximal 2.1°C±0.33°C at 6 minutes post-ROSC) (*p<0.05, mean±SEM, n=9).

CA/CPR induces multiorgan injury

As seen in Figure 3, serum functional markers, neurobehavioral deficits, and brain histology indicated multiorgan injury 3 days after CA/CPR, compared with sham procedure [blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 94±24 (CA/CPR, n=15) vs. 24±2 mg/dL (sham, n=4), serum creatinine (sCr) 0.2±0.1 vs. 0.0±0.0 mg/dL, AST 234±81 vs. 47±5 mg/dL, neuroscore 6.3±1.8 vs. 0.0±0, CA1 death 46.4%±16.6% vs. 1.3%±0.2%, mean±SEM, p<0.05]. ALT (169±115 vs. 26±7 mg/dL) was not significantly different 3 days after CA/CPR compared with sham procedure. Serum IL-1β was undetectable (<8 pg/mL) in all samples.

FIG. 3.

FIG. 3.

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CA/CPR induces multiorgan injury. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and hippocampal CA1 cell death were measured in animals subjected to sham procedure or CA/CPR 3 days following the procedure. Neurobehavioral scoring was performed at 24 hours after procedures (*p<0.05, mean±SEM [BUN, sCr, AST, ALT, % CA1 Cell death] or median±interquartile range [neuroscore] presented n=4 sham and 15 CA/CPR).

CA/CPR-induced renal and hepatic injury is not ameliorated by intra-arrest ExHy

As seen in Table 1, resuscitation requirements were not altered by treatment group assignment. Figure 4 illustrates that BUN (94±24 vs. 101±25 mg/dL, p=0.85, n=15/g), sCr (0.23±0.08 vs. 0.23±0.10 mg/dL, p=0.99, n=15/g), AST (234±81 vs. 125±15 mg/dL, p=0.21, n=15/g), and ALT (170±116 vs. 50±18 mg/dL, p=0.33, n=15/g) were not significantly different between normothermic and hypothermic animals at 3 days after CA/CPR. Similarly, there was no difference between groups at 7 days after CA/CPR (data not shown).

Table 1.

Cardiac Arrest/Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Data

  Normothermia Extracranial hypothermia p
Time to ROSC (s) 113.5±6.4 128.1±8.6 0.11
Epinephrine dose (μg/g body weight) 0.5±0.0 0.5±0.0 0.13
Baseline pre-arrest auricular canal temperature (BL, °C) 37.0±0.0 37.1±0.0 0.5
Intra-CA auricular canal temperature (CA5, °C) 37.7±0.1 37.4±0.0 <0.01
Auricular canal temperature 5 min after ROSC (ROSC5, °C) 36.4±0.2 34.5±0.2 <0.01
Auricular canal temperature 20 min after ROSC (ROSC20, °C) 35.8±0.6 36.3.3±0.2 0.4
ROSC mean rectal temperature (ROSC0, °C) 35.1±0.1 28.8±1.5 <0.01
24 h Survival (%) 75.8 78.3 0.55
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CA, cardiac arrest; ROSC, return of spontaneous circulation.

FIG. 4.

FIG. 4.

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Renal and hepatic function at 3 days post-CA/CPR is not altered by extracranial hypothermia. BUN and serum creatinine, AST, and ALT were measured at 3 days after CA/CPR and were not different between treatment groups (mean±SEM, n=15/g).

Intra-arrest ExHy ameliorates brain injury

Animals treated with ExHy demonstrated significantly fewer ischemic, dead, or dying neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region at 3 days after CA/CPR (22.4%±6.2% vs. 45.7%±9.1%, p<0.05, n=15/group). The effect was still evident at 7 days after CA/CPR, although the difference was no longer statistically significant (24.3±6.0 vs. 43.0±10.4, p=0.15, n=11/group), Figure 5. Gross behavior, as assessed by the neuroscore, was not different between treatment groups (day 1 hypothermia 5±0 vs. normothermia 4±1, n=22/group, day 3 3±1 vs. 5±1, n=22/group, day 7 1±0 vs. 1±0, n=11/group). There was no correlation between hepatic or renal injury and either histopathologic brain injury or behavioral deficits in any group at any time point.

FIG. 5.

FIG. 5.

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Neurohistological outcome of CA/CPR at 3 and 7 days post-arrest. Animals subjected to CA/CPR with extracranial hypothermia suffered significantly less neuronal death than those subjected to whole-body normothermic arrest as measured at 3 days post-CA/CPR. This effect was no longer significant at 7 days post-CA/CPR (*p=0.04, mean±SEM, n=15 for day 3 results, left. n=11/g for day 7, p>0.05).

Discussion

The main finding of this investigation is that ExHy during CA, without reduction in brain temperature, protects the brain after CA and CPR. This occurred despite the lack of a demonstrable reduction in extracranial end-organ function at 3 days after CA/CPR. Our findings add to the field, as they illustrate the importance of extracranial organs for brain protection and injury after CA.

The protection from ischemia/reperfusion injury provided by whole-body hypothermia has been widely described in decades of active research, and use of post-insult, TH has improved the outcomes of CA patients in recent years (Arrich et al., 2012; Girotra et al., 2012). However, TH remains underutilized (Laver et al., 2006) and dose and timing are controversial (Kuboyama et al., 1993; Italian Cooling Experience (ICE) Study Group, 2012; Yu and Liu, 2013). Accordingly, the mechanism of neuroprotection from hypothermic interventions is unclear, not because of lack of research, but at least, in part, because of the myriad of potential candidate mechanisms. Although a comprehensive review of the voluminous literature on the mechanisms of hypothermic protection is beyond the scope of this discussion, putative mechanisms have included reduction in cerebral metabolic demand (Williams and Spencer, 1958), interruption of apoptotic pathways (Xu et al., 2002), altered mitochondrial stress (Yenari et al., 2002), alteration of transporter kinetics (Lipski et al., 2006), and reduction of immune/inflammatory mechanisms (Meybohm et al., 2010), among others.

The traditional assumption is that brain hypothermia is the key to protection mediated by TH after CA. This notion was supported by early experimental studies which showed that selective post-injury cooling of the head protects the brain as effectively as whole body cooling. However, these studies used global (Corbett et al., 1997) or focal (Maier et al., 1998) ischemia models that interrupted blood flow to the brain only, avoiding whole body ischemia. In contrast, CA injures the entire body and affects all organ systems, resulting in a “postresuscitation disease” that has been likened to sepsis (Adrie et al., 2004).

Ischemic injury to peripheral organs, including kidneys (Liu et al., 2008), lungs (Holland et al., 2003; Rincon et al., 2012), and gut (Zhou et al., 2012), can activate microglia, induce neuronal death, and worsen brain injury. Hypothermia reduces injury to these extra-cranial organs (Chang et al., 2008; Santora et al., 2010) and reduces injurious organ cross-talk and resulting remote organ injury (Santora et al., 2010). The reduction of hippocampal injury in the animals treated with extra-cranial hypothermia in our study may be explained by a similar suppression of systemic organ cross-talk. It was surprising, however, that we did not find sustained organ protection of either liver or kidneys by hypothermia. Hypothermia-induced protection from ischemia is clearly an established concept. Others have shown that intra-ischemic hypothermia protects peripheral organs in models of isolated organ ischemia, including kidneys (Zager et al., 1989; Delbridge et al., 2007), liver (Behrends et al., 2006; Kuboki et al., 2007), lung (Shoji et al., 2005), and gut (Hassoun et al., 2002). This protection is mostly attributed to maintained levels of high-energy phosphates in hypothermic organs and to a lesser degree to a reduction of inflammation and infiltration of immune cells (Stefanutti et al., 2008). Studies of isolated organ ischemia use prolonged ischemia times that cause more severe injury than our CA model. It is, therefore, possible that energy stores in liver and kidneys are sufficient to prevent significant ischemic necrosis during the shorter period of ischemia in our CA model, thus limiting potential protection by hypothermia. This is supported by the finding that in our 8 minute model of CA/CPR, IL-1β was undetectable in all animals; while in a 10 minute model of CA, Burne-Taney et al. (2003) found increased levels of IL-1β 24 hours after CA/CPR. An alternative explanation is simply that the extensive liver and kidney injury we and others (Li et al., 2012) have demonstrated in this model at 24 hours post-arrest is partially resolved by the time point of investigation we used in this study. This would also be consistent with the findings of Burne-Taney et al. (2003), who found that changes in sCr were largely resolved at 72 hours after CA/CPR. Curiously, a large clinical multi-center trial of TH after CA also did not confirm that hypothermia improves renal function after CA (Zeiner et al., 2004).

Reperfusion with cold core blood induced a slight reduction in brain parenchymal temperature for 14 minutes after ROSC in animals treated with ExHy, despite active independent temperature control (as seen in Fig. 2). Hypothermia can cause regional cerebral vasodilation in larger animal models (Gelman et al., 1996), which could potentially have contributed to reduced injury in the ExHy group. However, the magnitude of the observed reduction of brain temperature was small (maximally 2.1°C) and transient. The temperature reduction required in other studies to produce cerebral vasodilation after resuscitation from CA and induce neuroprotection was much more severe and lasted longer [temperature as low as 28°C for 45 minutes after ROSC (Gelman et al., 1996) or as low as 20°C for 30 minutes after ROSC (Horn et al., 1991)]. Similarly, a reduction of brain temperature below 34°C for >1–2 hours was required to induce neuroprotection of hippocampal CA1 in small animal studies of hypothermia after CA (Nakajima et al., 1997; Takata et al., 2005; Che et al., 2011). It, therefore, appears unlikely that the brief reduction in brain temperature after ROSC fully explains the brain protection observed in our study; however, an alternative explanation of our data remains that a very brief, a very slight reduction in brain temperature immediately after reperfusion without further temperature management could be neuroprotective.

Our study has several limitations. No direct conclusions regarding the use of TH, which is generally in the moderate range, and applied after ischemia/reperfusion, should be drawn from our study, in which we manipulated extracranial temperature only during CA and not after. Another possible limitation is the lack of histological analysis of organ injury (kidney or liver). However, our previous studies have demonstrated a very strong correlation between kidney injury measured by FluoroJade B histology and serum levels of creatinine and BUN (Hutchens et al., 2010, 2012). Our current study cannot rule out a role of inflammation in organ cross-talk after CA, as we were unable to detect sustained elevation of plasma cytokines at 3 days after the insult. Further investigations at earlier time points after CA are needed to determine whether blunting of the inflammatory response by ExHy may contribute to neuroprotection. Finally, it is possible that macrophysiologic differences due to intra-arrest thermal management might have contributed to the observed effect. Systemic hypothermia causes systemic vasoconstriction, which could potentially affect cardiac function. Since both groups required similar doses of epinephrine and similar duration of CPR to achieve ROSC, and also had similar survival rates, it is unlikely that intra-arrest ExHy had profound effects on cardiac function. We did not directly measure cardiac output or blood pressure in this small rodent model.

A growing and important literature supports local cooling of the brain to prevent injury after neurologic insult in animals and humans (Clark and Colbourne, 2007; Fingas et al., 2007; Esposito et al., 2014). To our knowledge, we are the first to differentially manipulate brain and body temperature, holding brain temperature constant, during CA in order to evaluate the site of hypothermic protection. Using this model, we found that cooling the body while holding the brain normothermic is also neuroprotective. We believe that the ability to produce ExHy may provide an experimental platform for identification of protective signals originating outside of the CNS.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that interventions targeting peripheral organs can influence the development of neurologic injury after ischemia reperfusion. Our data add to the growing understanding of cross-talk between different organ systems and emphasize that brain injury after CA cannot be seen in isolation. Future studies will identify the specific mediators utilized by different organ sources in this cross-talk, with the hope that interrupting or altering the cross-talk may lead to better brain-saving therapies. Our findings further emphasize the importance of using models of actual CA to test potential clinical treatments, rather than extrapolating from studies using selective brain ischemia.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health grants DK090754-01 (M.P.H.), NS067051-02 (I.P.K.), and NS058792-05 (P.S.H.).

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare that no competing financial interests exist.

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