Biochemical and Molecular Biological Assessments of Neonatal Hypoxia–Ischemia: Inflammation

Abstract

Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) brain injury is a leading cause of perinatal mortality. Inflammation contributes substantially to the pathogenesis of perinatal H-I brain injury. The inflammatory response in neonatal H-I model could be assessed by measuring the expression of inflammatory mediators in the blood or organs of interest using quantitative polymerase chain reaction or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or by analyzing the number and morphology of inflammatory cells using immunohistochemistry staining, Western blot, and flow cytometry. Unique features of inflammatory response in neonatal H-I brain injury compared to the adult counterpart, which affect the results of inflammation assessments, are discussed in this chapter. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.