Brain tissue haemoglobin expression in saline-perfused vs non-perfused rodents
Marion Walser,
Lars Karlsson,
Reza Motalleb,
Jörgen Isgaard,
H Georg Kuhn,
N. David Åberg
Affiliations
Marion Walser
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Clinical Chemistry, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Corresponding author. Sahlgrenska University Hospital Laboratory of Experimental Endocrinology Bruna Stråket 16, 413 45, Göteborg, Sweden.
Lars Karlsson
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sweden; The Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
Reza Motalleb
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Jörgen Isgaard
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Specialist Medicine, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden; Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
H Georg Kuhn
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Institute for Public Health, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
N. David Åberg
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Acute Medicine and Geriatrics, Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
Haemoglobin beta (Hbb) and delta-aminolevulinate synthase 2 (Alas2) messenger RNA (mRNA) is mainly found in immature red blood cells, reticulocytes, and not in mature erythrocytes. However, these are also expressed in other tissues such as brain cells, mostly neurons. Therefore, exact quantification of neural tissue homogenates may be confounded by remaining blood in the brain vasculature that may give falsely high values of Hbb/Alas2 expression. To investigate and compare the contribution of local Hbb/Alas2 expression, we investigated mRNA expression locally in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, in post-sacrifice saline-perfused and non-perfused mice and rats. Although there was a higher level of Hbb/Alas2 transcripts in the non-perfused animals, there was a significant mRNA expression in perfused brains that could at most partially be explained by remaining blood. Finally, we suggest that saline-perfusion should be recommended for quantification of brain Hbb/Alas2 transcripts in homogenates.
