Henrik Hagberg MD, PhD

Henrik Hagberg MD Ph.D., is a professor at the Centre for the Developing Brain, the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College in London, United Kingdom. The research has been focused on mechanisms of perinatal brain injury. He demonstrated that brain ischemia is accompanied by a massive release of excitatory amino acids (EAAs) implicating that these compounds exert neurotoxic effects during/after ischemia in the adult and immature brain.

EAAs are released also into the CSF of asphyxiated babies. He found that post-treatment with EAA receptor antagonists (NMDA and AMPA) reduced perinatal brain injury and the degree of EAA increase in CSF correlated to outcome in asphyxiated babies. There is also a delayed increase of EAAs and NO that is attenuated by hypothermia, which may be one factor of importance to explain the neuroprotective effect of lowering brain temperature. Furthermore, NMDA receptor activation enhances glucose utilization during reperfusion in the immature brain, which is most likely due to an impairment of mitochondrial function.