OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) expression and apoptosis in the cerebral cortex following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

METHODSSubarachnoid hemorrhage was induced by modified monofilament puncture method in rats. Thirty-five adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to five groups: sham-operated group, SAH 6 h, SAH 12 h, SAH 24 h and SAH 72 h groups. HIF-1α expression was assessed by immunofluorescence staining. TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) technique was adopted to detect apoptotic cells. Double immunolabeling was used to identify cell types with positive HIF-1α expression.

RESULTSThe expression of HIF-1α was increased at 6 h (4.65%±1.01%), peaked at 24 h (18.55%±4.23%), and decreased at 72 h (6.31%±1.15%) after SAH (P<0.05). TUNEL-positive cells were up-regulated in the brain at 6 h (7.09%±2.34%), peaked at 24 h (25.54%±7.36%), and down-regulated at 72 h (14.11%±3.03%) after SAH (P<0.05). A significant positive correlation was noted between HIF-1α positive rates and TUNEL positive rates following SAH (r=0.738, P<0.05). Double immunolabeling indicated that HIF-1α was expressed predominantly in neurons and some nuclei with positive HIF-1α were co-stained with TUNEL.

CONCLUSIONThe data indicate that HIF-1α might participate in the pathological progression of early brain injury after SAH.