Conclusions
This preliminary research further establishes a large animal swine model investigating survivors of CO poisoning to measure translational metrics relevant to clinical medicine that includes a basic neurobehavioral assessment and post exposure cellular measures.
Methods
Four swine (10 kg) were divided into two groups: control (n = 2) and CO (n = 2). The CO group received CO at 2000 ppm for over 120 min followed by 30 min of re-oxygenation at room air for one swine and 150 min followed by 30 min of re-oxygenation for another swine. The two swine in the sham group received room air for 150 min. Cerebral microdialysis was performed to obtain semi real-time measurements of cerebral metabolic status. Following exposures, all surviving animals were observed for a 24-h period with neurobehavioral assessment and imaging. At the end of the 24-h period, fresh brain tissue (cortical and hippocampal) was immediately harvested to measure mitochondrial respiration.
Results
While a preliminary ongoing study, animals in the CO group showed alterations in cerebral metabolism and cellular function in the acute exposure phase with possible sustained mitochondrial changes 24 h after the CO exposure ended. Conclusions: This preliminary research further establishes a large animal swine model investigating survivors of CO poisoning to measure translational metrics relevant to clinical medicine that includes a basic neurobehavioral assessment and post exposure cellular measures.