Intracerebral hemorrhage is primarily a disease of the elderly and it is frequently accompanied by intraventricular
hemorrhage (IVH) which can lead to posthemorrhagic
hydrocephalus and poor prognosis. Red blood cell
iron has been implicated in
brain injury after
cerebral hemorrhage. The current study examined using T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect periventricular
iron deposition after IVH and investigated the effects of
minocycline on
hydrocephalus in an aged rat IVH model. It had three parts. In part 1, male aged rats received a 200 μl injection of saline or autologous blood into the lateral ventricle and were euthanized at day 14. In parts 2 and 3, aged IVH rats were treated with vehicle or
minocycline and euthanized at day 7 or 14. Rats underwent MRI to quantify
hydrocephalus and
iron deposition followed by brain histology and immunohistochemistry. Periventricular
iron overload was found after IVH using T2* MRI and confirmed by histology. IVH also caused ventricular wall damage and increased the number of CD68(+) choroid plexus epiplexus cells.
Minocycline administration reduced
iron deposition and ventricular volume at days 7 and 14 after IVH, as well as ventricle wall damage and epiplexus cell activation. In summary, IVH-induced
hydrocephalus is associated with periventricular
iron deposition, ependymal damage and choroid plexus epiplexus cell activation in aged rats.
Minocycline attenuated those effects and might be a potential treatment for posthemorrhagic
hydrocephalus in the elderly.