Cerebral air embolism and the blood-brain barrier in the rat

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Abstract
Cerebral air embolism can have hemodynamic effects such as increased blood pressure and cerebral blood flow. These factors may play a role in the induction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction. Air (5 .mu.l) was injected into the right internal carotid artery from a catheter in the external carotid artery after ligation of the extracerebral branches. No consistent change in blood pressure was observed with this amount of air. Hypercapnia, which increases protein leakage in the brain under conditions of high intraluminal pressure, significantly reduced the extravasation in air embolism. Lidocaine and SITS (4 acetamido-4-isothiocyano-stilbene-2,2-disulfonic acid disodium), 2 drugs that effectively reduce the albumin leakage in acute hypertension, had no prophylactic effect in cerebral air embolism. Spontaneously hypertensive rats are less vulnerable than normotensive rats to pressure-induced BBB dysfunction but did not significantly differ from controls regarding albumin leakage. The increased cerebrovascular permeability in air embolism is probably unrelated to hemodynamic factors.