DNA damage of mononuclear cells in blood of patients with cerebral infarction

    LIU Yuª²Mei, ZHANG Runª²Ling, SHI Zhengª²Hong

    1Department of Clinical Laboratory, 2Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Lanzhou Medical College, Lanzhou 730030, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿AIM: To investigate the DNA damage of mononuclear cells in the peripheral blood of cerebral infarction patients at acute and recovery stages and to evaluate the correlation between the DNA damage and the pathologic course of cerebral infarction. METHODS: Twentyª²four patients with cerebral infarction and 20 ageª² and sexª²matched healthy persons were selected as cases and controls, respectively. The damaged DNA was assayed by single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) or comet assay, and the neurone specific enolase (NSE) was measured by radioimmunological methods. RESULTS: The rate of comet cells and their tail DNA concentration increased significantly in acute cerebral infarction patients, and so did the NSE concentration. The percentage of comet cells and tail DNA decreased significantly in convalescence patients, but no difference in the NSE concentration was found between recovered patients and control group. CONCLUSION: The free radical and DNA damage and repair may play an important role in the pathogenesis, development and recovery of cerebral infarction. ......