The present study was undertaken to investigate whether extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was involved in mediating hyperglycemia-exaggerated cerebral ischemic damage. Phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 was studied by immunocytochemistry and by Western blot analyses. Rats were subjected to 15 min of forebrain ischemia, followed by 0.5, 1, and 3 h of reperfusion under normoglycemic and hyperglycemic conditions. The results showed that in normoglycemic animals, moderate phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 was transiently induced after 0.5 h of recovery in cingulate cortex and in dentate gyrus, returning to control values thereafter. In hyperglycemic animals, phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 was markedly increased in the cingulate cortex and dentate gyrus after 0.5 h of recovery, the increases being sustained for at least 3 h after reperfusion. Hyperglycemia also induced phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 in the hippocampal CA3 sector but not in the CA1 area. Thus, the distribution of phospho-ERK 1/2 coincides with hyperglycemia-recruited damage structures. The results suggest that hyperglycemia may influence the outcome of an ischemic insult by modulating signal transduction pathways involving ERK 1/2.
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