Bioelectrical behaviour of hypoxic human neocortical tissue under the influence of nimodipine and dimethyl sulfoxide

Nimodipine and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) have been shown to affect electrophysiological responses in rodent brain tissue in an vitro model of hypoxia. In the present study, the same agents were now examined for their effects on human neocortical brain slices under repeated hypoxic conditions. DMSO (0.4%), with and without addition of nimodipine (40 micromol/l), did not increase the latency of anoxic depolarization (AD). This finding is not in line with our previous observations of DMSO effects, with and without nimodipine, on brain slices of guinea pigs. AD latency was significantly longer in human neocortical brain slices compared with hippocampal slices of rodents even without any pharmacological influence. A possible acute effect of DMSO-nimodipine may therefore be masked by an interspecies difference of hypoxia resistance.