Plasticity of the central nervous system (CNS) following perinatal asphyxia: does nicotinamide provide neuroprotection?

We have investigated the idea that nicotinamide, a non-selective inhibitor of the sentinel enzyme Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-I (PARP-1), provides neuroprotection against the long-term neurological changes induced by perinatal asphyxia. Perinatal asphyxia was induced in vivo by immersing foetuses-containing uterine horns removed from ready-to-deliver rats into a water bath for 20 min. Sibling caesarean-delivered pups were used as controls. The effect of perinatal asphyxia on neurocircuitry development was studied in vitro with organotypic cultures from substantia nigra, neostriatum and neocortex, platted on a coverslip 3 days after birth. After approximately one month in vitro (DIV 25), the cultures were treated for immunocytochemistry to characterise neuronal phenotype with markers against the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 1 (NR1), the dopamine pacemaker enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), the enzyme regulating the bioavailability of NO. Nicotinamide (0.8 mmol/kg, i.p.) or saline was administered to asphyctic and caesarean-delivered pups 24, 48 and 72 h after birth. It was found that nicotinamide treatment prevented the effect of perinatal asphyxia on several neuronal parameters, including TH- and NOS-positive neurite atrophy and NOS-positive neuronal loss; supporting the idea that nicotinamide constitutes a therapeutic alternative for the effects produced by sustained energy-failure conditions, as occurring during perinatal asphyxia.