Hypothermia and ERK activation after cardiac arrest.

Mild hypothermia improves survival and neurological outcome after cardiac arrest, as well as increasing activation of the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in hippocampus. ERK signaling is involved in neuronal growth and survival. We tested the hypothesis that the beneficial effects of hypothermia required ERK activation.

Prevalence of troponin-T elevation during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

To determine the prevalence of myocardial ischemia before out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA), we determined the prevalence of elevated cardiac troponin-T levels in subjects at the time of OOHCA. Plasma was collected from 63 subjects during resuscitation. Troponin levels were elevated (> or =0.

Hypothermic reperfusion after cardiac arrest augments brain-derived neurotrophic factor activation.

Induction of mild hypothermia improves neurologic outcome after global cerebral ischemia. This study measured levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in hippocampal tissue of rats after resuscitation from 8 minutes of normothermic, asphyxial cardiac arrest. After resuscitation, rats were maintained either at normal temperature (37 degrees C) or cooled to mild hypothermia (33 degrees C, beginning 60 minutes after resuscitation).